I have a trust fund from my grandmother that pays my living and education expenses while I am in school. It cannot be used to pay debts, and my name is on the account but i am not the trustee. I live in WA state and my trust fund account belongs to my family in VA. Will I lose my trust funds if I file for bankruptcy? I have tried arranging payment plans with all the collection agencies and cannot even afford the monthly payments they require. I'm worried about being sued and am being harassed by collection callers. I am desperate and that is why I am considering to file.
As already answered maybe, maybe not.
However, your problem is more of an income problem. You may not have the luxury of only working 16 hours per week. Maybe you should work more hours. Maybe you should work full time and go school part time.
I know a girl that carried 12 to 18 hours each semester for 5 years for her double major (with the exception of one semester when she only had 6 hours as a foreign exchange student in UK) all the while working an average of 30 hours per week. An extra 10 to 12 hours can go far to keep you out of bankruptcy.
Here is what you do....talk to a bankruptcy atty about negotiating lower payments with all the places to whom you owe money. It's entirely possibly that you can restructure and avoid bankruptcy with some long term financial; planning assistance.
Unluckily, the answer to your main question is maybe. Is the trust revocable or irrevocable, has your grandmother died, are you filing Chapter 13 or 7. All these questions (and more) need to be answered before you can determine if the assets are protected or not. Your bankruptcy lawyer will be able to answer.
You could eventually.
