If you are considering filing bankruptcy in Michigan your first instinct is to look for a cheap bankruptcy attorney. This is natural because if you had the money to hire a top notch attorney you may not need to file bankruptcy. This is where most people run afoul because they don’t know their bankruptcy facts. Most people would say of course I don’t know any facts about the bankruptcy law that is why I will hire an attorney. This is only valid to a certain point. However, in an age where the internet provides so much good information there is no reason you should not know the basics of bankruptcy before you ever walk into an attorney’s office to get your first free consult.
What are the basics of Bankruptcy?
If you are going to file you will most likely be looking at either a chapter 7 bankruptcy or looking at a chapter 13 bankruptcy. The chapter 7 allows the local trustee to liquidate any assets you have. This assumes you have assets. If you don’t have assets your case would be considered a chapter 7 no asset case. Here is where people get nervous when they hear about liquidating assets. Yes, the trustee can sell your car or home to recover money to creditors. However, you are allowed by the federal bankruptcy law and the Michigan bankruptcy court to exempt a portion of your assets. This ultimately means you have the ability to reasonably protect yourself and your stuff. This is a very high level overview of bankruptcy. The difference between a cheap bankruptcy attorneys which only pushe paperwork or one that is there to fight for you can be the difference in you getting to keep your home or being forced into a chapter 13 bankruptcy where you will be paying back all or some of your creditors.
The basics of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is where you are required to pay back a certain percentage to the creditors over a 3-5 year period. The amount of payback and the length of time you will be paying back during a chapter 13 depend on what your plan is approved for and if the trustee overseeing the case agrees to the plan. When creating a plan you must list all of your priority debts, these debts come first and then any disposable income is used to repay the creditors in chapter 13. Most of these things can only begin to be addressed after you have figured out what the median income is for a family of your size. As can easily be seen all the variables of bankruptcy and your financial future should not fall on cheap lawyer that acts only as a bankruptcy mill to fill out bankruptcy paperwork to file with court. The old adage of you get what you pay for if take a chance on getting using cheap bankruptcy attorney. You should also expect to have someone else in the firm to represent you other than your attorney when you go to your 341 hearing.
How in the world can I afford an expensive attorney if I can’t pay my bills right now?
This is one of the reasons you need to visit at least three attorneys and conduct your bankruptcy research before, during and after you meet with an attorney. You should find out that most attorneys for good reason will tell you to stop paying all unsecured creditors. This means, if you are keeping your house, car and boat you need to continue to keep paying on these things. After you stop paying on your unsecured items you can save up the $1200.00-$2500.00 for the good attorney. You really want an attorney that will be at your 341 hearing, the attorney that will return your calls and answer your emails when you have questions. You can get away with stopping and paying all your bills if you put down a small retainer and then tell your creditors you are filing bankruptcy and you provide his\her name and number.
If you’re wondering about the attorney quotes above; Yes, this is about what it will cost in attorneys fees for a decent attorney or bankruptcy lawyer. However, you can get away with paying $599.00 for an attorney as long as you know what to expect when filing bankruptcy and you are prepared to do a lot of checking up on your attorney.
Who can use a cheap bankruptcy lawyer?
The person that can use a cheap bankruptcy attorney will be the person that has confidence in their ability to interpret laws, has the confidence to get on the internet and do research about their case and then ask the attorney their questions or concerns. These people can also create an account on PACER and review their bankruptcy case as the trustee updates their case and as the bankruptcy lawyer adds the necessary documents to your bankruptcy case online. This is especially true if you have a simple chapter 7 no asset bankruptcy case. In other words after you have met with a number of bankruptcy attorneys during your free consult they pretty much agree you are a no asset case. In this case, you may want to save the extra money and go with the cheaper bankruptcy lawyer. This is only if you don’t mind some minor paperwork mistakes and the delays that will come when filing with attorneys that large amount of cases.
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