What Does Bankruptcy Mean

By Milton Houston


Everyone filing for bankruptcy has the goal of seeing the bankruptcy discharge in the mail, whether they are filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. This discharge allows the individual to know that their debt is completely wiped out and creditors no longer can come after them in the future. There is one caveat in that not every person filing bankruptcy gets a discharge. For some that don't play by the rules or just make stupid mistakes they can have their bankruptcy filing dismissed.

The first thing that you need to make sure is to find an experienced bankruptcy lawyer. He or she should have been in the field of handling bankruptcy cases for at least a few years. Many a times people tend to hire the services of an attorney who handles bankruptcy cases only occasionally and end up regretting their decision later on. Getting to hire a greenhorn just because of the price is also not a good decision to make, for an inexperienced attorney may not be able to handle the case competently and in fact, could put you into more trouble.

The law firm or the attorney that you hire should understand your financial position and must be able to offer you a flexible payment option. They need to remember that you may not be in a position to shell out their fee in full and would be only able to do so in installments. The attorney or the law firm should be sympathetic to your situation.

Everyone's situation is different, but in some cases individuals with a large amount of unsecured debt that filing bankruptcy might be able to afford to keep their car and their home. Eliminating all the credit card debt and personal loans will sometimes allow an individual to just squeak by and be able to make their house payment. Where the big problem will lie is if the individual got months behind on their payment and has no way of coming up with a lump sum to catch up. Once again this is a good reason to hire a bankruptcy attorney to navigate the complexity of the bankruptcy code. Prior to 2005, it was easy for people to file a pro se or do-it-yourself bankruptcy. During this time frame, Congress felt there were too many abusing the bankruptcy system and made changes to the code. In the big scheme of things, a bankruptcy attorney well worth their fees when considering the amount of debt that will be wiped out in the bankruptcy discharge.

Filing for bankruptcy could be one of the most emotionally taxing experiences. You need to find a lawyer who would fully understand your state of mind and offer you a sympathetic hearing. The attorney should also show a ready willingness to answer any questions that you may have about the case. You must never make the mistake of hiring the services of a bankruptcy attorney just because he or she lives down the street in your neighborhood. You need to remember that we live in a day and age where location is no longer a constraint for smooth communication. The criteria for hiring the services of an attorney should be only competency and nothing else.




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