I'm in trouble and need information on how long I have to worry before I end up in court on my debt ?

I'm in unfamiliar territory. A few years ago I divorced and used credit to compensate for the lost second income assuming I could refinance or sell my home to pay it back before it ever became a problem. Ex Wife is still on home loan and we are in dispute. Debt caught up last July and though I continued to send a small amount of good faith money to my creditors I am in collections ( I think). I have recieved collection notices but I continue to get billings from my creditors as well. My new wife is very close to obtaining employment which will improve our situation. How long will it be before my creditors or collectors put me in the court room which will force bankruptcy ? Is there any benefit to making a minimal good faith payment ? I have insisted from creditors and collectors that all communication be in writing and have refused or ignored phone contact ? Debt settlement vs. debt management ? Debt settlement / management companies want up front money to present to the creditor for program. What do I do with the creditors and collectors until that resource becomes available ? I am literally, paycheck to paycheck on just my necessary living expenses with nothing extra until my wife goes to work. Help !!!

You say your debt was caught up last July. If your debt is caught up, you should not be getting notices from collectors. Your creditors will send you statements which are really notices of the status of your account. I guess I'm confused about your situation. Are you, or aren't you, in a delinquent bill status? Knowing this, helps with answering your other questions.

Debt caught up with me. I'm far from out of debt.

Circumstances got you in over your head? I believe everyone  knows about DEBT and the STRUGGLE to break FREE.
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I can understand a cash only policy for most our spending, but for buying a house?  I would think a mortgage would be a totally different issue.  I mean the cheapest home you could buy in our area that was livable would run you $50,000+ and you'd be throwing money at rent for a long time while saving that kind of money.

I think the answer to your question about when you will end up in court entirely depends on the creditor and their collection practices. I don't know this for sure but I've heard it can take anywhere between 1 and 3 years depending on the creditor.

Even making a small, good-faith payment will go in your favor in court. It shows that you're making every attempt to work out these debts in even a small way.

Are there any expenses you could possibly cut back on for the short term that will help to increase the amount of small payments you can make?

How far away are you from getting close to being current on your payments?

my payments have been far less than the minimum and some  creditors refuse to accept less than minimum. my debt is growing by leaps and bounds only this time i have nothing to show for it because it is all late fees and increased interest and penalties. this is why people tend to knee jerk react to jump into bankruptcy. while persons need to be responsible there should be some caps and protections in place on what a creditor can loan and what a creditor can charge. i did what i did out of desperation and hope that i'd be able to fix things before it ever became a problem. realitacly now, there was never any way i could afford what i was allowed to borrow on my income which the creditors all had up front.

Honestly if you can't at least pay he minimum you might as well not pay nothing at all because the interest is going to over ride that in more ways than one.