Residence Question For Bankruptcy

Question:
I'm a Washington state resident, and had some awful medical bills from a pregnancy a few years back...need to file chapter 7 before this stupid new bankruptcy law goes into effect. This is the weird part of my situation. OK, I have lived in Washington for two years, have my license, voter registration and such there....BUT I recently did a *temporary* relocation to Alabama for a *temp* job here, which will last like seven months. The place I was living in Washington...is the residence of an "ex,' who I would NOT want to have mail going to, if you know what I mean .... So, the question goes to "where do I file?" I know the "90 day thing about residency," and don't want to either file here in Alabama, --OR-- wait that long (new law, natch). I am STILL a Washington resident (yeah, I intend to go back, but not sure where I will be GOING once this job ends, ha), so would rather file THERE for a lot of reasons...but how do I address the "I'm a Washington resident, but DON'T mail stuff to my "old" Washington address," kinda thing? Does this make sense? I know it is sorta convoluted! I want to file like quick, in a week or so...got all sorts of paperwork already typed out and such.

Answer:
File in Washington. As a practical matter it should not make that much difference to the administration of your case, and the worst thing that can happen is the case would be dismissed without prejudice, and you would be permitted to re-file in another state. But I don't think that will happen so long as you put a Washington address on your petition. Actually, you may not really be a resident of WA. Yes, you do HOPE to move back there in a few months, BUT you do NOT have a home in the state to go back to. And you evidently don't have a job in WA to go back to, either. The fact that your voter's registration, license plates, etc. are in Washington does not necessarily mean that you LIVE there: it COULD simply mean that you are violating various Alabama and Washington laws relating to car registration, voting, etc. Perhaps, you should just go ahead and accept the fact that you are currently living in the only state where you have a place to live, which also happens to be the state where you live while doing the only job you currently have--- i.e., Alabama. I suspect it would be easier to file in Alabama, since that is where you are physically located right now--- and you do actually have a home in Alabama (which is more than you can say for Washington.) But ask a lawyer for advice: I am a non-lawyer whose advice is worth at most what you paid for it!





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