Hiring A Bankruptcy Attorney For Peace Of Mind
Filing For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Gabriel Freeman
Bearing the weight of financial burdens can be challenging, especially if your income doesn't allow you to repay your debts in full in a timely manner. If you find that you are getting further into debt, then bankruptcy might be an option to consider. Filing for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy can be beneficial for many people.
Here are three things that you can do to help determine if you could benefit from the filing of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the near future.
1. Make a list of your assets.
Before you consider filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy as a solution for your financial problems, you should take the time to create a list of your assets. These assets should include any real estate that you own, any vehicles listed in your name, and the value of your financial accounts (retirement accounts, checking accounts, savings accounts, etc.).
If you have valuable assets that can be liquidated in order to generate cash that will help you pay off your debts, you should take this route first. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will require you to turn your assets over to a trustee, so attempting to clear your debts on your own by liquidating assets before filing for bankruptcy can be beneficial.
2. Determine if you are eligible for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Before you spend the time and money required to file a bankruptcy case, you should determine if you are eligible for a Chapter 7 filing. In order to determine your eligibility, the court will use a means test.
This test verifies that your income is below the median income for your state and evaluates your monthly disposable income to determine your ability to repay debts. You can perform a preliminary means test to determine your eligibility to file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy by working with an experienced bankruptcy attorney or by using an online calculator.
3. Meet with a credit counselor.
Filing for bankruptcy should come only after you have tried other ways to pay off your debts. To ensure that you have exhausted all your options, you should take the time to visit with a credit counselor before you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Not only will the credit counselor be able to evaluate your options and give you valuable advice regarding your financial situation, but credit counseling is typically a required step in the bankruptcy filing process.
Understanding what you need to do before filing for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy will help you decide if this option is best suited to meet your financial needs.
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Hello, my name is Kiley, and if you have major debts and you're thinking about filing for bankruptcy, this is the blog you need to read. Two years ago I was very much in debt, and then I was laid off from my job. The only alternative I had was to file bankruptcy. I was very nervous about filing bankruptcy until I spoke with a bankruptcy attorney. The attorney explained the bankruptcy process with me in terms that I could understand. After the consultation, I felt much better. If you're considering filing bankruptcy, this blog explains the process so you'll know what to expect. I wanted to write this blog so that I could help other people who are in the same situation and to let them know how the process works.