If you are short on funds and cannot afford a law office to help you due to high prices, you may be able to file on your own in a bankruptcy. How do you know when you can file on your own and when you need a law office and bankruptcy attorney to help you? Most of this decision is based on your capability to spend the time to understand the bankruptcy process and manage all aspects of the bankruptcy process on your own. If you feel that you are capable of completing the process on your own without an attorney representing you to your creditors and in court, you may file in a “pro per” status meaning that you are filing without any attorney representation. There are many ways an attorney can help you in the process of filing bankruptcy. Here are the most important areas where an attorney can help.
An Attorney Can Save You Time With Paperwork
An experienced bankruptcy attorney knows how the paperwork needs to be filled out in order to complete the bankruptcy process in the fastest manner that the bankruptcy court can complete the process. If you have never filed a bankruptcy before, the paperwork is extensive. You must provide the mandatory documentation to prove your financial situation and it may differ between different court systems and different Bankruptcy Court Trustees. An experienced bankruptcy attorney should have the experience needed in the court system that you are filing in to know what it takes to complete the whole process. This can make a big difference in the amount of time that your bankruptcy is completed because you will not have a back and forth with the bankruptcy trustee to complete the required paperwork if you miss something in your attempts to complete a bankruptcy on your own.
A Bankruptcy Attorney Can Attend The Bankruptcy Trustee Meeting With You
An experienced bankruptcy attorney can attend the required Bankruptcy Trustee meeting or 341A meeting with you to make sure that you are representing yourself clearly and properly to the bankruptcy trustee. If the bankruptcy is confused by your filing or may require additional information, it could cause the bankruptcy trustee to require you to attend another meeting to bring paperwork or information that they need to see. Extending another meeting will delay the whole bankruptcy process for several weeks. Your bankruptcy attorney should have the experience necessary to avoid another meeting.
A Bankruptcy Attorney Can Represent You to All of Your Creditors
An experienced bankruptcy attorney can take all calls from your creditors and handle all communications by the court system to represent you throughout your bankruptcy activities up until the discharge of your debt and the closure of your file. When you retain a bankruptcy attorney, all communications from creditors can be reverted to your law office to stop the creditors from contacting you directly. This is a huge advantage to those who do not have time to manage all the calls. There will also be communications from the court system to the filer which the bankruptcy attorney can translate and forward to you if necessary.
As you can see, there are many ways a bankruptcy attorney will assist you in the process. These highlighted above are the key reasons a bankruptcy attorney charges an attorney fee. A capable law office will handle all the above stated tasks and more to help you through the bankruptcy process. If you are confident that you can handle the bankruptcy process on your own, you may want to try to do it first. If you find the process too time consuming or too challenging, call a bankruptcy attorney for a free consultation to help you.
Bankruptcy Law Professionals is a bankruptcy law firm with offices in Santa Ana and Riverside. We offer free consultations with our attorneys by phone or in-person. Contact us at 855 257-7671 to schedule an appointment.
