Contemplating bankruptcy. Do I even stand a chance at Chapter7? (DC)

Hello all, I truly hate that it’s come to me making this post but here I am. I am 31, married with a 3 month old. We live in DC where I make roughly $90,000 gross. I am the only income as my wife has not been able to work for the last year due to her epilepsy getting increasingly worse. She was a nurse but it’s difficult to care for people with the chance of seizing. Prior to my wife and daughter I carried debt constantly. Mental induced terrible spending habits are the worst. When my wife came into the picture and was working we made more than enough to pay everything down (she’s financially responsible unlike myself). Since not being able to work I feel like I’m drowning with the debt but I’m worried I won’t qualify for chapter 7. A quick breakdown, my monthly take home is about $7502.54. Rent is $2550 but we have a roommate so I am responsible for $1550. Water: $75 Gas: $50 Internet: $95 Phone: $112 Groceries: $1200 (formula is expensive af) Car insurance: $151 Vehicle maintenance/ gas $400 Personal care/haircuts/laundry etc: $450 Car payment: $750 with $48,000 remaining Motorcycle payment: $270 with $4000 remaining Miscellaneous expenses/entertainment: $200 I’m sure I am missing some things but that brings my monthly expenses to roughly $5303 which according to chapter 7 leaves me with $2200 a month of disposable income. Which all goes to debt every month for minimums leaving us at zero or even in the negative every month. For the debts we have: Personal Loan: $17,078.33 min $ 490 Personal Loan: $24,196.17 min $ 713 Credit Card: $20,062.24 min $ 502 Discover Card: $10,438.38 min $214 Citi Credit Card: $13,171.74 min $329 For a total debt of $75,508.48. With total minimum payments of $2248 monthly.

No here is my main concern. I don’t think I will qualify for chapter 7 and will be pushed into chapter 13. While I don’t fully understand how chapter 13 works I understand the debt will be paid off over time on a schedule. My biggest issue is I am active duty navy and I will be leaving active duty in October of 2026 with no guarantee of a well enough paying job or even a job right away to begin with so I wouldn’t be able to make the chapter 13 payments anyways. It’s a terrible time for me to be leaving active duty with our financial situation but I need to for our family situation. My wife can barely care for our daughter without supervision until we get her epilepsy sorted so I can’t risk deploying again. Does anybody have any ideas or tips for me? Thanks!

Posted Dec 7, 2025, 10:57 PM UTC

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