Chillicious.comAll About Finance
What Can I Do to Prepare for Bankruptcy?
We all know people who claim to be legal experts but have no formal training. If such a person has told you that you should run up your credit cards before you file for bankruptcy because all your debt will be discharged anyway, please disregard their advice. If the Bankruptcy Court senses that you are acting in bad faith and taking advantage of the system then they will dismiss your claim. Therefore, to get the Bankruptcy Court to stay on your side and give you the benefit of the doubt, you need to make sure you have not used your credits cards within 90 days prior to filing for bankruptcy.
You wouldn’t be contemplating bankruptcy if you had sufficient income to pay all of your creditors, but you should continue to make at least some payments to some of your creditors. This will help your cause by proving to the bankruptcy court that you are trying your best to make your payments.
If you want to make sure your bankruptcy petition gets filed quickly and with as little stress as possible, then there is information that you can gather for you attorney prior to drafting your petition. You will want to document or gather the following: (1) Mortgage(s) – Determine what your current appraisal value is as well as your pay-off amount, determine the mortgagors information, and determine what your monthly payments are and how many payments you are behind, if applicable; (2) Vehicle(s) – Ascertain the market value of all your vehicles, and if financed or leased, collect the lenders information and the pay-off amount; (3) List of Unsecured Creditors – Collect the addresses of all your unsecured creditors (i.e., credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, cash advances) and how much you owe; (4) Pay Stubs – - Obtain pay stubs or proof of income for the 3 months prior to filing.
Be sure you have all of your taxes filed with the IRS. The Bankruptcy court will not allow you to discharge your debt if taxes are left unfiled. Furthermore, as is the case in Los Angeles, some Bankruptcy Courts will require you to furnish your returns from the past two years. It is also a good idea to also provide those returns to your attorney to ensure accuracy when he/she drafts your petition. If you do not have copies of your tax returns, then contact your regional IRS office and have them mail you copies for a nominal fee.
A complete accounting of all your expenditures can be extremely helpful in allowing the Bankruptcy Court to get a better sense of your financial pressure. Using your bank statements, your credit card statements, and your memory make a list of all of your regular monthly expenditures. Remember to include expenditures on items such as food, clothing, laundry, medications, taxes, alimony, school expenses, and personal care items.
Retaining a specialist is always the best form, especially when dealing with complex matters. Just as it would be difficult to obtain a favorable result if you performed a complex medical procedure on yourself, it will likewise be difficult to obtain a favorable result if you try to file a bankruptcy yourself. Therefore, hire a qualified bankruptcy attorney to help you file and handle all the work for you.
Chapter 7 Los Angeles Bankruptcy Attorney – Law Offices of Alon Darvish
Comments are closed
