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Household Finances

debt consolidation help

23 years ago

My sister is going through a divorce. She has made some bad financial decisions, mainly that all the assets they owned are totaly in her name. Her soon to be ex has made sure that he is not liable for anything, and she is in financial straits!! Her credit could be in jeopardy, 250,000 worth. I suggested that she talk to a debt consolidater just to give her some breathing room until she can sell off some of her assets. After reading some of the posts, I am not so sure I gave her good advice. Would anyone like to give me some good advice that I might pass on to her. Where is a good starting point for her. I feel that she needs to get her finances in a manageable state, so she has room to negotiate better deals on the cars and property.

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Comments (5)

landmarker
23 years ago
She should start with her lawyer.
dave_donhoff
23 years ago
Ditto Landmarker.

She can't get a strategy together until her asset/liability status is stabilized & established.
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Definitely check out the forums at myfico.com. There are tons of experts and people who are going through the same exact situation as you who will help with warnings, tips, sample letters to creditors, etc. There are a lot of debt consolidation scams and more cropping up every minute. I would not trust a credit counselor or financial advisor who wasn't registered with the state or SEC. More than likely this debt "counselor" your DH talked to will take your $900 and walk away. They get paid $900 even if they spend 0 minutes on your case. You would have no idea, and all they have to say is "Sorry, we weren't able to convince your creditors to budge, thanks for the $900." If anything I would do a search for a nearby Certified Financial Planner at http://www.cfp.com. Nearly every one of them will do a free sit-down interview with you to discuss your needs and give you an estimate of what they would charge to help you (and how they would help you). They take an oath, have an ethical standards board and take exams and continuing education so you can be more certain that they will not scam you out of your money.
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joyfulguy
23 years ago
Hello shipcord,

Do you feel at liberty to give us more information about what has developed in your sister's situation?

I was intrigued by the original ideas.

In what State is the situation developing?

Some other participants here - especially newly-marrieds - might find the ongoing issues instructive as they plan their lives.

I hope that things have developed in a better way than you feared originally.

Good wishes to your sister.

joyful guy
MIStepMom
23 years ago
From what I understand, no matter whose name the debt was in, if they were married, he is 50% responsible for the repayment of that debt. There was an article in the paper the other night about a women who had been divorced several years, her ex was killed in an accident and she was contacted by one of his creditors about a $3000 credit card bill he had. She explained that they had been divorced for several years and they said that he had never removed her name from the account, so she was liable for his debt. Talk about a blow. His relatives refuse to pay the card off with the proceeds from his estate as well. I agree with landmarker, she needs to start with a good lawyer and fast.
gina_in_fl
23 years ago
This original post is so old, but, for what it's worth... if all assets are in her name, just cash in on some of them.

Especially the ones that she owes big balances on and doesn't really care about (boat, extra car (ESPECIALLY HIS) etc.

let us know how it turns out.

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