Bankruptcy Lawyer - What They Do

If you are in the process of filling for bankruptcy, you may be weighing the decision about filing pro se or with the help of a bankruptcy lawyer. If this is on your mind, you have likely asked yourself what an attorney does that you cannot do on your own, and whether or not this is worth the financial investment of hiring one. Before you make your decision, learn what it is that a bankruptcy lawyer will do for you in the filing process.

Offering Expertise

You may think that getting legal advice about the filing process is simple, but truthfully it is not. Giving out legal advice without a license to practice law is illegal, and most professional companies that offer services to those in debt are very careful not to break this law. An attorney will help you by offering expertise about the laws in your state that apply to bankruptcies, how they apply to you, and how to best present your case to have it accepted and protect any possible assets.

At the very outset of your case, an attorney will help by determining whether or not you should declare. Sometimes, even when you think you are at the end of your financial resources, there are other alternatives that will be far less costly in the long term than filing. If you are a good candidate for filing, your attorney will help you determine what type you should file for. Having this knowledge as you enter into the process will save you both time and money.

Filling Out Paperwork

The filing process has a ton of paperwork, and hiring a bankruptcy lawyer takes the burden of filling out that paperwork off of your shoulders. Instead of you having to fill it out, the attorney will have his or her clerks or paralegals take care of the job, under close supervision of course. All you have to do is provide your financial information and the necessary information about your debts.

Submitting the Forms

Do you know where to submit the forms when you are done with them? An attorney does, and he or she will ensure that they are submitted properly with the right form of payment. This is just one more step that you will not have to handle on your own if you hire an attorney. Once the forms have been accepted, the attorney will present your case to the bankruptcy judge on your behalf.

Mediator

The Fair Debt Protection Act provides protection against predatory practices used by debt collectors. Under this federal law, if you hire a bankruptcy lawyer, your creditors and any debt collectors must contact your attorney, rather than you, to discuss your debts. Your attorney will also accompany you to your creditor meetings to serve as a mediator between you and your creditors and help you present your case to the trustee.

So before you make the decision, think about all that a bankruptcy lawyer does, and decide whether or not you could benefit form these services. You will usually find that the benefits you receive make the cost worthwhile.