next month I can't pay credit cards due to legal fees what do I do

[Joecooltech]

Recently my wife and I have taking custody of her two brothers because of substance abuse in the home. after the legal retainers the emergency custody paperwork and court fees on top of buying them new clothes new shoes new beds because their mother will not allow us to get it from there the residence.

I have ran into a financial wall there's no way possible for me to keep up. we are trying so hard to keep the normal day-to-day activities of the kids making sure they have what they need. for you those of you who have been in this type of situation how do you go about talking to your credit card companies in letting them know there is no money to be had?

[Creditaddict]

Depending what kind of credit cards you have? limits? current scores?

I might consider looking at opening a few new ones and see if you can get past this tremendously GOOD thing you are doing and that your finances follow with your good thing shortly and you can get back on track.... maybe make a couple tiny balance transfers to the new cards just to pay minimums to keep it all floating a few months.

[PCMedic]

Not sure how may cards you have (or with which banks), but often you can call and simply explain the situation as you have here and in many cases get a one month hardship deferment. No guarentees, but does not hurt to try. Several years back I had to do this and all but one of my creitors was willing to work with me.

As another has suggested, if you think you have a good chance for approval, looking into a new card with balance transfer oprion may be another solution. If you go this route I would try calling current creditors first. If they are to consider any diferment and see recent inquiries it is liable to red flag them from doing so.

[jsucool76]

While it sounds terrible, and i wouldn't recommend it in any other situation. I might have to agree with CA.

With something like the slate you can at least BT your min payments from your cards (with no fee) for the first 2 months. That will buy you some time at least.

[Joecooltech]

My wife's credit score was about to 690 did 700 until last month when we started racking up credit card debt her available credit to debt ratio is not so great anymore. and I've tried for a couple zero balance interest cards with her and they're just saying no

[ezdoesit]

I agree with and normally wouldn't but I think trying to open a couple of new TL with BT would help.  To get a better picture so people can try to give you better advice we need a little more info.  What kind of util is she at?  Any baddies?  What cards does she currently have?  And also what is your credit profile like?

[Joecooltech]

Currently my wife has almost all GE cards. She only has one or two actual Visa cards and one discover she has 2 paid off car loans. has never missed a payment since the day she was 18
But to be quite honest with you were probably at 85 percent on both of us just for the amount of expenses that it is all the sudden. I had cash on hand but not $7-8 thousand which is how deep I am In this thing right now when you add everything up and this is all in 3 weeks

[ezdoesit]

Now another question since these bills racked up in the last 3 weeks are you sure it hit both your credit reports yet.  A lot of these util is just timing of the cc reporting more so in this situation.

[Creditaddict]

go check out some of the pre-approvals real quick on the websites for citi, chase, bank of america, capital one.

in that order!

if she has a lot of GE already, you could look at paypal mastercard for both of you and you can pay eachother... Bill Me Later is SUPER easy to get and you could pay eachother with that if you each create a paypal account.  even at cash advance bill me later is only 19.99% and my roommate got $802 instantly with under 600 credit score and MAXED out!

[SoulMaster]

What is the total of the minimum payments you would have to make?

If it's sub, say, $500.  Maybe you can make up the shortfall by going around your house and selling things that aren't nailed down.  Have an XBOX360? A TV? A pair of earrings? A circular saw? Use craigslist or ebay to get the most bang-for-your-buck.

If you don't feel you can part with these things forever, try a pawn-shop.  Interest rates (at least in Vegas) are 3-10%, making them FAR better than payday loans, and they're a great way to get by when you need it.  Back when I was flat-broke, before my bankruptcy, I borrowed $100 on my $1200 watch to get some food.  Got the watch back later and was glad I only borrowed what I needed (rather than the $600 I could have gotten).

If you're certain these one-time expenses are going to be minimized, selling/pawning is the way to go.  Then, as fast as you can, go work the kids into the the budget.  You have a budget, right?  ;-)

Good luck.

-SM