Bankruptcy Lawyer: Hire a Competent Attorney

You will need to hire a competent bankruptcy lawyer to help you develop a plan that will support your future goals to become financially stable. Although the attorney will ask for several documents, these documents will help show how much money you earn and how much money you can afford to pay in monthly payments. Ask the attorney if you can provide him or her with copies of the paperwork that is needed. He or she will let you know if there are some special steps that must be taken related to the paperwork. It might be necessary for some of the documents to be notarized.

If you file Chapter 13, be sure that you understand that you cannot reverse it at a certain point. You also need to be clear on the amount that you are agreeing to pay. If you cannot afford to make the payments, you will find yourself in a worse position. In most cases, it is far better to make arrangements with creditors and try to get your payments caught up on your own, but for some people that is simply not possible. You need to be certain that you will also know when the arrangements will end. Your attorney should be able to provide you with a date of when the payments will end. You also need to know how filing could impact your credit.

The bankruptcy lawyer can discuss the options that are available to you. For example, you might be able to pay off only some of the money that you owe and give up some of your property. Some people are able to keep some of their property or the majority of it. Paying the debts can be worthwhile, but challenging, especially if you have to agree to a plan that will take several years to pay off.

Some people agree to a plan that will allow them to stay in their homes. You must be sure that you know exactly how much money you owe and how much money will be paid for the bills, including the mortgage. If the agreed upon amount does not cover your costs, you might end up owing more money due to the fees and interest rates that are often imposed by creditors. It is extremely important that your bankruptcy lawyer is competent and has your best interests in mind as a client. All agreements should be in writing, and you should know exactly how much money you need to pay to get back on track.

There should not be a lot of back and forth and misunderstandings once the agreement has been made and the paperwork has been filed and agreed to. All of the information should be crystal clear and correct, and you should not regret that you filed once your day in court is over. You should be able to look back on the filing as a necessary step that you took to help your financial situation, and it is best if you feel as though you really did receive help in the end.