Hiring a bankruptcy attorney significantly increases the likelihood of your problematic debts being discharged. In fact, according to a 2011 study conducted by the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, your chances of a Chapter 7 discharge improve by 30% or more with an attorney while your odds of a Chapter 13 discharge improve by nearly 99%.
If you’ve decided to seek counsel in your pending bankruptcy, you can get things moving faster if you’re prepared for your first meeting. Here’s what you need before you contact your bankruptcy attorney.
Prepare for your initial consultation
When you first meet with your attorney, he’ll want to gather information to help him determine the most appropriate type of filing for our specific scenario. Be prepared to answer the following questions.
- Why are you filing for bankruptcy?
- What do you hope to accomplish by filing for bankruptcy?
- What is your household income?
- How much income did you earn in the past six months?
- Do you have any assets?
- How much are your assets worth?
- What type of debt do you owe?
- Do you owe past-due taxes?
- Are you behind on domestic support obligations?
- Do any creditors currently have a judgment against you?
In addition to being prepared for the attorney’s questions, compile a list of your own to ask so you leave feeling confident in your decision.
Gather your documents
As with any legal proceeding, a bankruptcy case comes with a profusion of paperwork. You can gather many of the documents ahead of your first appointment, and that’s a good idea if you’re in a rush and ready to get a move on.
- Your drivers’ license and social security card
- The last two years of filed tax returns
- Seven months of bank statements and paycheck receipts
- Legal paperwork related to domestic support obligations
- The last two full years of profit and loss statements if you own a business
- Current copies of your mortgage and any foreclosure-related documents
- Vehicle loan statements and valuations
- Copies of life insurance policies, retirement statements, and other financial documents
Contact The Law Offices of Jeffrey Lohman today to begin taking steps towards resolving your financial burden through bankruptcy.
“The Law Offices of Jeffrey Lohman, P.C. is considered a debt relief agency pursuant to federal law. We are attorneys who help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.”
