What To Do If You Are Filing For Bankruptcy

If you have decided that you are going to move forward with the process of filing for bankruptcy, then you need to know what the next steps are that you need to take. This will ensure that the process runs as smoothly as possible.

Gather Your Bills

It is vital that you are taking a copy of each one of your bills to your bankruptcy attorney once you retain him or her. This should include everything from your utilities and your mortgage to your old medical bills from years ago. You will even want to include the bills that you have been making a good faith effort to pay on. No matter what chapter you end up filing for, the bankruptcy court will need to include all of this information. Other debts that you will want to include are personal loans that you owe to friends and family if you would like those debts to be considered as well.

Keep Your Case Number Nearby

Your attorney will send confirmation to all of your creditors once he or she has received the case number for your bankruptcy. Once you have that case number, none of your creditors are allowed to continue with their collection efforts. They can no longer bother you with collection calls. They can however send you updated statements regarding the debt you owe until a decision is reached in the bankruptcy court. Should your creditor call you because they were unaware of your bankruptcy case, feel free to give them your case number and the telephone number for your attorney should they have any more questions.

Attend Your Bankruptcy Hearing

If you do not attend your bankruptcy hearing, you may very well find that your request to discharge your debts or put them in a court protected payment plan will be denied. You need to be present for the bankruptcy hearing, even though your attorney will do most of the talking for you. It is a quick and simple process and there will generally be other people present who are also requesting a bankruptcy. Once you are granted the bankruptcy chapter that you have requested, you will await further instruction from your attorney. If you filed for a chapter seven bankruptcy, all of your debts will be cleared out and you will receive discharge papers once the process is complete. If you requested a chapter thirteen bankruptcy, you will wait for information on a repayment plan.

The sooner you get started with all of this, the sooner you will no longer have to worry about the amount of debt you are struggling with.

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