Why You Need a Chapter 13 attorney

Not everyone who needs to declare bankruptcy is the same and not every type of bankruptcy is the same either. And that is an important point to keep in mind if you find yourself drowning in past due debt but slowly recovering financially and unwilling to lose your assets due to some temporary financial setbacks.

The most common type of personal filing is generally a chapter 7, in which the entire debt is discharged -providing all of the debt is dischargeable debt and the residue effect is generally the bankruptcy will show up on your credit report for the ensuing decade. With this type of discharge most candidates lose their assets but they are too far out from a likely financial recovery to qualify for a different type of discharge.

However there is another type of personal bankruptcy that may be a better fit for you if your financial bump in the road was truly just a temporary setback and that is a chapter 13.

Under this type of discharge you are submitting a payment plan to the court to get current on your back debts and you are allowed to keep your assets and property instead of losing everything to your creditors.

A chapter 13 attorney can help you decide if you are a good candidate for this type of discharge and help you come up with a payment plan that you can adhere to if you are a good candidate. The most important piece of information about this type of discharge that you need to be aware of is the fact that if you miss even one payment to one creditor the entire discharge can be dismissed in federal bankruptcy court and you will be forced to pursue a chapter 7 bankruptcy instead. So it is important that whatever financial hiccup created your situation in the first place is resolved or you won't be deemed a good candidate.

The second piece of vital information that your chapter 13 attorney will go over with you is the fact that you must start adhering to the payment plan that you and your chapter 13 attorney created, even before the court formally accepts the repayment plan. As soon as your creditors are given the plan they will expect you to begin making the payments promised- when you promised them.

And finally because this type of discharge is complex and involves you being allowed to keep your property instead of forfeiting it to the courts to be sold to repay your debts, the rules are slightly more complex. So it's important that you use a chapter 13 attorney who understands the ever changing rules and policies that govern this type of discharge to make sure that as stressful as this experience is on you- it is done correctly and completely so you can keep your assets, rebuild your credit and get the relief you need to accomplish both.