Tough one FIB. Bankruptcy is not much of an option as it will stick with you for a long time and it sounds as if it may cause this D process to drag on. And the $17,000 is not the end as I am sure more legal expenses will be added as time goes on.
Is it not possible for the 2 L's to work together and come up with a reasonable settlement knowing that bankruptcy is not going to be all that beneficial for your STBXW?
I know that in my case, when we got to court, the judge was most pleased that we had settled most everything beforehand and was even more pleased that we were able to step outside and finalize the remainder on our own.
Maybe your STBXW is off the crazy train a bit now and that it may be advantageous to attempt negotiatiations entirely using L's.
