Many think that bankruptcy process is one of the most complicated processes if one has to ever deal with it. It’s true that a lot of people make critical errors and mismanage their finances due to lack of knowledge of the bankruptcy process. While bankruptcy is a wonderful solution to liberate you from all the debts, the entire procedure of declaring bankruptcy may be quite challenging for the uninitiated. Proper planning, research, and preparation are important for filing bankruptcy successfully. Here are some steps for making the bankruptcy process less painful.
Assess your Situation
First of all, you must be able to analyze the amount of debt you have and the number of bills you can’t pay, which is piling up on your already outstanding debt. If you find yourself in a situation where you receive repeated phone calls to pay off your bills, consider filing for bankruptcy. Understanding bankruptcy is very crucial in order to file for a suitable chapter of bankruptcy. You must consult an experienced Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer who can give you the best guidance.
Find an Experienced Bankruptcy Attorney
Finding a good bankruptcy lawyer is one of the most challenging tasks as an experienced lawyer can give you the best advice. In order to ensure a successful result, you must consider hiring a board-certified bankruptcy attorney as they have knowledge and expertise to handle bankruptcy cases.
Hiring a bankruptcy lawyer who promises you that he will be cheap may cost you more in the future. A certified Philadelphia Bankruptcy lawyer would not only strengthen your case in court but would also give you useful suggestions keeping your best interests in mind.
Preliminary Consultation
At the initial stage of the consultation, your bankruptcy lawyer would collect all the information that they require from you. You can also get your queries answered so that you understand bankruptcy nuances better. You must also submit your credit report and the list of your creditors, last 2 years taxes, 6 months of salary slips, and an accomplished education certificate while filing for bankruptcy. This information would help your bankruptcy attorney to ascertain whether bankruptcy will help in your case or not.
341 Meeting Notice
After the bankruptcy case is filed, you will have to wait until you get a notice on 341 meeting. Usually, at the meeting, the bankruptcy trustee will consider all the paperwork and ascertain that the papers are accurate. The trustee may also ask you questions about your current financial position, your life and assets accumulated. These are the bankruptcy formalities which need to be fulfilled before the next step can be taken.
Keep Paying the Mortgage or Other Loan Installments.
It is also important for you to understand whether you should file for Chapter 13 or Chapter 7bankruptcy for proper remediation of your situation. If you wish to keep your car or home you must continue paying on the secured loans. You don’t want to give your creditors any grounds to foreclose or repossess. You would also be able to pay off the past payments if you file bankruptcy under Chapter 13 plan.
File Taxes
It is always advisable that you should file the taxes before you file for bankruptcy. In case you file the tax returns on time, your bankruptcy may be discharged.
Declaration
Bankruptcy law would require you to disclose all your assets and debts with utmost honesty. You must organize all your finance related documents before you visit a Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer. Keeping all the paperwork organized would save you money and time as well as help your bankruptcy attorney to prepare a strong case.
Many people try to hide their assets which result in discharging of their case or the imposition of a penalty and imprisonment in worst cases. Thus, you should declare all your debts and assets and hide nothing from your attorney.
Bankruptcy is the process that helps people and businesses prevail over an extreme financial condition where it gets impossible to pay their bills and debts. The core purpose of bankruptcy is to help taxpayers and law-abiding citizens get a hassle-free exit from their financial chaos and get a fresh start. Consult one of our experienced bankruptcy attorneys at Cibik & Cataldo P.C. immediately at 215-515-5955 to get yourself out of the financial mess and start afresh.
This article first appeared on my blog.
