Q: I was given 2 responses but I dont know how to respond directly. I signed with my current Attorney in Oct of 2019.
Came up with a plan - started paying the bankruptcy each month. Paid into it March through November of 2020. My attorney filed something incorrectly - case was dismissed for a month. Started getting calls from creditors. He corrected it - I'm back in the bankruptcy. Bankruptcy approved in Dec 2020. Stopped paying bankruptcy directly because payments were to start being taken by court order from spouse employer. Notified my attorney in March 21 that payments have still not started. My attorney finally wrote a letter to trustee in June. Received a copy of a letter from Trustees to spouse's employer on August 17th 2021 asking them about the court order sent in January of 2021 to please start collecting payment. As of today - still no payment pulled from spouse pay and I'm told its my responsibility to make sure the plan is paid. Now payment to trustee is about 4800 owed
A: You can get a second opinion from another experienced bankruptcy lawyer, who will need to review your case and the filings in it. If there is something new that can be done, other than what is being done, then they will tell you. If there was malpractice, then they can identify it for you and give you options for filing an ethics complaint, or hiring a malpractice attorney (but your damages may or may not justify it, and there appears time for you to mitigate the effects by catching up on your plan payments). In the end, you are on a Chapter 13 payment plan, but the payments are not being made. You need to make the payments, or the Trustee will file to have the Chapter 13 either dismissed or converted to a Chapter 7. Standing in front of the judge and complaining that your spouse's wage garnishment is taking too long and you chose not to make up the shortfall in the meantime is not going to get you any sympathy. You still owe the money. It's your bankruptcy.
Timothy Denison agrees with this answer
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