Clients often ask if they should stop paying their credit card bills before we file their bankruptcy case.
There are at least two issues. The case to continue payments is that there is an argument that the more "lates" you have on your credit report, the lower your credit score will be.
The counter argument is that if you need to file bankrupcy, you need to be saving your money to, for instance, catch up your home mortgage payments. Money paid to the credit card company is gone.
There is another "legal" issue, which is as follows: Bankruptcy trustees are on the lookout for payments to unsecured creditors which exceed $600 per creditor in the 90 days before the case was filed (one year for 'insiders'-- basically, people who are relatives or close friends.) The reason is that such a payment may be a "preference". I usually say that there is nothing immoral, illegal or fattening about a preference, but the point from the trustee's standpoint is that he or she can recover the preferential payments and earn a commission for doing so.
So, you don't get the money back and the company you paid doesn't get to keep the money.
Sort of a lose-lose proposition.
So, I think as a general matter, once you have decided that you have to file bankruptcy, stop paying the credit cards.
As usual, there are exceptions to every rule; be sure to ask about your specific question.
