Vital Reasons to Retain an Assertive and Skilled Bankruptcy Lawyer
ShareDespite your best attempts to stay ahead of your bills, you may find yourself seriously behind on what you owe. You may accumulate debt from medical bills, credit card expenses, payday loans, and other costs that you cannot pay.
Instead of risking your creditors garnishing your wages or placing a lien on your bank account, you can take legal steps to resolve your debts. You can start by hiring an experienced and assertive bankruptcy lawyer to represent you.
Determining What Case to File
When you get help from an experienced bankruptcy lawyer, you can get help figuring out what kind of case to file. The type of case that you file to resolve your debts will depend on a number of factors. Your lawyer will assist you in identifying these factors and help you choose the best form of bankruptcy to take out for your case.
If you want to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, for example, you will need to pass a means test. This test involves weighing your income against your assets and debts. Your income and net worth must fall below a certain dollar amount in order to qualify to file a Chapter 7 case.
Likewise, if you want to liquidate all of your debts, you must not have filed this type of bankruptcy in the last seven to eight years, depending on in what state that you live. If you filed a Chapter 7 within the last seven to eight years, you may need to file a Chapter 13, which is a reorganization of your debts.
Identifying Eligible Debts
Depending on what kind of case you file, you may be able to get most or all of your debts resolved. However, your bankruptcy lawyer will inform you of what debts cannot be organized or discharged through this kind of legal action.
For example, you may not be able to get your back taxes dismissed entirely with this type of legal action. Your bankruptcy lawyer may be able to get you your back taxes that are older than three years partially or fully discharged. Likewise, student loans may not be forgiven through this filing. If anything, however, it will allow you to renegotiate your payments on your loans.
A bankruptcy lawyer can provide you with valuable debt resolution services. He or she can identify what type of case to file and inform you of what debts can be discharged.