By Ryan C. Wood, Attorney at Law
The process of filing for bankruptcy really should not be attempted without the counsel of an experienced CA bankruptcy lawyer. Like any area of the law it is best to let someone who has done in hundreds of times help you. We have filed hundreds of bankruptcy cases for residents of the Bay Area successfully time and time again. We did not start practicing bankruptcy law as extra income. This is all we do.
If a chapter 7 bankruptcy is not filed properly you could lose some of your assets like a car or other valuable item. Worse, your case could be dismissed without receiving a discharge. This would be terrible given that the whole point in filing for bankruptcy is to get rid of (discharge) your unmanageable debts. There are certain requirements that must be completed when filing for bankruptcy protection. You must take the required courses ($14.99 total for a single person) and provide documents to the trustee assigned to your case. Some chapter 7 bankruptcy cases are somewhat routine, but if anything goes wrong you will seek out an attorney to help you get out of it. It is prudent to start the process and end the process with the counsel of an experienced bankruptcy attorney.
Filing a chapter 13 bankruptcy case is even more complex and there are almost no chapter 13 bankruptcy cases that are successfully without the assistance of an attorney. The first issue is the trustee’s offices do not want to deal with bankruptcy filers that do not have attorneys. It is not their job to make sure you represent yourself correctly or file the necessary documents on time and accurately. The trustee’s job is to administer the bankruptcy estate. Formulating a chapter 13 bankruptcy plan of reorganization is challenging even for some attorneys. If the chapter 13 plan is not correct the trustee’s office will not recommend approval of the plan.
Even if you are successful in having the chapter 13 plan confirmed, what will you do when something comes up during the second year of the plan or reorganization? You can longer afford to make the chapter 13 plan payment each month? You have lost your job? Now what? Or you won the lottery. Now what? What you should have done is retained a bankruptcy lawyer. Retaining our services will answer each of these questions. We have the experience you can depend on when an issue arises.
For more information about whether bankruptcy is right for you, contact our Fremont bankruptcy lawyers. You may also contact our Union City bankruptcy lawyers for additional information about obtaining a fresh start through bankruptcy.