I have a close family friend that is in a tough situation, I'm trying to come up with ideas.
She (26) was the primary caretaker of her only remaining parent for the last year, her mom died in November. Despite having siblings she was the only one around at the end, and ended up being the one to do all funeral arrangements. Only her name on any of the paperwork ($8k and change). Her siblings had a loose agreement to split it into thirds, but of course now they have no money. The funeral home is now threatening lawsuits if she doesn't have a check for them by the end of the week.
She makes essentially nothing (<$17k in North Jersey), has very little cash, has nothing of any value to sell, and has existing charged off debt totaling $7k or so. Without the funeral bill I think her situation was salvageable - She has no history of excess spending or credit card use (chargeoffs are medical and vet) so it's not a fundamental problem with her. She simply has no money. Creditors have tried and failed to have her wages garnished, even the courts here in NJ agree there is nothing to be had.
The Gofundme she set up grossed $50. My wife and I are already providing substantial ongoing financial assistance with her housing/utilities/groceries/etc and I'm vehemently opposed to subsidizing her deadbeat family so paying it myself is likely not going to happen. I am willing to fund and guide her through the bankruptcy process.
Although I'd ideally like to see her avoid the bankruptcy I'm really not seeing a huge downside here. Her credit is already screwed (ish at least). She makes so little that it would be a clear shot to chapter 7 as far as I can see, and very simple - Three or four creditors total with approximately one year's gross pay for her.
My thinking is that this is precisely the kind of situation that bankruptcy is designed for. She wipes everything but her school loans which she has recently gotten back to good standing, keeps those current, has my help for the next few years, and in 2-3 years likely has better credit than she has today.
She will basically do whatever I recommend here, what's her best move? Any value in going to the funeral home and saying look if you play nice her intent is to pay you in full, but if you go nuclear and get a judgment you'll end up with literally nothing?
Viper GTS
She (26) was the primary caretaker of her only remaining parent for the last year, her mom died in November. Despite having siblings she was the only one around at the end, and ended up being the one to do all funeral arrangements. Only her name on any of the paperwork ($8k and change). Her siblings had a loose agreement to split it into thirds, but of course now they have no money. The funeral home is now threatening lawsuits if she doesn't have a check for them by the end of the week.
She makes essentially nothing (<$17k in North Jersey), has very little cash, has nothing of any value to sell, and has existing charged off debt totaling $7k or so. Without the funeral bill I think her situation was salvageable - She has no history of excess spending or credit card use (chargeoffs are medical and vet) so it's not a fundamental problem with her. She simply has no money. Creditors have tried and failed to have her wages garnished, even the courts here in NJ agree there is nothing to be had.
The Gofundme she set up grossed $50. My wife and I are already providing substantial ongoing financial assistance with her housing/utilities/groceries/etc and I'm vehemently opposed to subsidizing her deadbeat family so paying it myself is likely not going to happen. I am willing to fund and guide her through the bankruptcy process.
Although I'd ideally like to see her avoid the bankruptcy I'm really not seeing a huge downside here. Her credit is already screwed (ish at least). She makes so little that it would be a clear shot to chapter 7 as far as I can see, and very simple - Three or four creditors total with approximately one year's gross pay for her.
My thinking is that this is precisely the kind of situation that bankruptcy is designed for. She wipes everything but her school loans which she has recently gotten back to good standing, keeps those current, has my help for the next few years, and in 2-3 years likely has better credit than she has today.
She will basically do whatever I recommend here, what's her best move? Any value in going to the funeral home and saying look if you play nice her intent is to pay you in full, but if you go nuclear and get a judgment you'll end up with literally nothing?
Viper GTS