Christmas is the season of joy and giving. Your credit cards might have saw a fair amount of action on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Credit cards are a necessity to make safe purchases on those cyber bargains and are easier to carry around town when making your last minute purchases. Some consumers require credit cards to buy the gifts they feel are necessary for a Merry Christmas morning. Once Christmas passes and the credit card statements begin rolling in as proof of your generous character you may be surprised at the totals.
Some of those Christmas purchases could cause problems if you file for bankruptcy right after Christmas. In general, credit card purchases owed to a single creditor totaling more than $650 for luxury goods or services incurred by a debtor within 90 days before filing a bankruptcy case are presumed to survive the bankruptcy discharge (still collectable). So, if you bought your son a flat screen television for Christmas for $700 and used a credit card to make the purchase, if you do not pay that debt off before filing bankruptcy you may still owe the credit card company for the television purchase. Cash advances could also cause problems if the advances total more than $925 within 70 days of your bankruptcy case being filed.
You may not have any issues with your credit card usage before filing bankruptcy if the purchases were reasonably necessary for your support or maintenance or the support of your family.
Bankruptcy is an option to help those individuals and families struggling with their debt to find relief. If you are considering bankruptcy and are worried that your credit card usage could affect your bankruptcy case, please call our Kansas City Bankruptcy Attorneys to schedule a free in-office consultation to discuss your options.