Getting A Bankruptcy Attorney And Going To Court - 3 Reminders

If you've decided to hire a bankruptcy attorney to get out from under your crushing debt, congratulations. You've likely made an excellent decision regarding your financial future. Choosing to take such a step is never an easy thing. It takes bravery to ask for help. The process won't be easy or fun, but it won't be long before you're looking back on the days of endless yellow bills in the mail and answering messages from debt collectors like distant memories. As part of discharging your debt, you'll probably need to appear in court at least once. Here are three reminders for that day.

Don't Be Late

You might get lucky and appear before a judge who is understanding, genial, and laid back. That said, the chances are unlikely. While the judge may be friendly, they are probably going to be at least somewhat no-nonsense, and they will see any lack of punctuality as a sign of disrespect. Don't underestimate the power a judge has in these situations. While sworn to uphold the law, it's not uncommon to run into someone who considers courtroom disrespect to be the greatest trespass of them all. Show up on time and don't give the judge any reason to throw your case out before it begins.

Consult with Your Bankruptcy Attorney

If you have a court date fast approaching, it might be worth your while to give your bankruptcy attorney a call and make sure they will be there. While it would be a rather bad sign to realize that your lawyer forgot about the date, it's probably too late to go looking for someone else at this point. To avoid a potentially bad situation where you show up in court and have no idea what you're doing because your lawyer is otherwise occupied, just give them a brief call and remind them of the date. If you don't want to come off as condescending, you can always manufacture another reason for the call and just slip in the court reminder as an afterthought.

Make Child Care Arrangements

The court is really no place for children. You can go in with your bankruptcy attorney and hope for a quick process that will have you in and out in under a half hour, but there's certainly no guarantee things will go that way. More likely, there will be a full docket and you may have to wait hours before your turn. Children can become restless in these situations and you may be asked to leave the courtroom if they become a disruption. Don't chance it. Find someone to watch your kids so you can focus on the business at hand.