Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy Common Questions:

Before you decide to file a bankruptcy, you should speak to an attorney that isn’t a bankruptcy factory. What I mean by this is someone who can look at  your debt and decide if this is the best option for you and give you alternate solutions if applicable.

What is bankruptcy?

It is a legal proceeding that is instituted to give citizens a fresh start. It is handled by federal law and handled by the federal court system. By filing bankruptcy, all creditors have to stop collecting any and all debts from you.

How much should a bankruptcy cost me?

We believe that you are considering a bankruptcy because money is tight. It doesn’t make sense to ask you to pay a large sum of money up front.

How does bankruptcy help me?

That depends on your personal situation, but there are a few things that are possible with a bankruptcy filing:

  1. The discharge of your debts and eliminating the legal obligation to repay most of the debt.
  2. Stop foreclosure proceedings and allow you time to catch up on late payments.
  3. Prevent repossession of property or a car, or even a return of repossessed property.
  4. End harassment from debt collectors, stop a garnishment of wages, stop other creditor actions.
  5. Restore/prevent utility termination
  6. Allows a citizen to challenge a creditor by using fraud or others who may be trying to collect more than you owe.

What does bankruptcy not do?

  1. It does not solve all your financial problems.
  2. Eliminate certain rights of secured creditors. The Bankruptcy Court can force a secured creditor to be paid over time and possibly not the full amount.
  3. Discharge debts established by the bankruptcy law to not be discharged: child support, student loans, court orders, criminal fines, most taxes, and alimony.
  4. Protect co-signers on your debts.
  5. Any debts created after bankruptcy has been filed.
Student Loans
We are one of the few firms nationwide that focuses on eliminating student loans via bankruptcy. While this is not always feasible, we can request a declaratory statement from the court in deciding to extinguish your student loan debts in a bankruptcy.  There are a few factors that go into this, but we can sit down with you at no charge and go over your options.
There is a three part test:
1. Did you make a good faith effort to repay your loans?
2. Based on your current income, are you unable to pay back your student loans?
3. Is your situation likely to change?
If you can answer yes to all three, or just would like more information about this, please contact us as soon as possible to advise you on whether you have are possibly eligible to have your student loans discharged in a bankruptcy.
Taxes
Not all taxes are available to be included in a bankruptcy, yet many are. We have a tax attorney on staff who can evaluate your individual case to see if your tax bill may be included. One such factor is the age of the tax bill.  We can sit down with you in our free consultation and go over you options to see if bankruptcy is right for you.
Bankruptcy may be the best option for you.
This can be a very difficult decision and one you should not make on your own. We have years of experience in navigating the bankruptcy laws and can use that experience on your side.

Bankruptcy is a very serious decision to be made in one’s life.

While you are deciding whether to file or not, it is important to be armed with the correct information. At Myers & Eichelberger, we are always here to give you a free consultation and help you solve your debt issues. In a lot of consultations, a bankruptcy is not even needed.