If you are considering filing for bankruptcy, contact local bankruptcy attorneys in your area and ask if they offer a free consultation. Many do. Ask the office what materials you should prepare ahead of time and what you should bring with you to your consultation with the Bankruptcy Lawyer Des Moines. In any case, if you haven’t organized your bills, begin making a list of everyone you pay on a regular basis, such as your mortgage or rent, utilities, car notes, and credit cards. Get the name of each creditor, their address, their phone number, your account number, your balance owed, and the amount of each monthly payment. You won’t need all the details at your initial consultation, but once you’ve hired a law firm, you’ll need to compile that information.
After you first meet with a Bankruptcy Lawyer Des Moines, and you’ve hired a firm to represent you, the attorney will have you complete paperwork so they know your financial situation in detail. Their questionnaire will ask you for your full contact information, social security number, how many dependents you have, any previous names, and any previous addresses. Here is where you’ll need to provide information on each creditor, like how much you owe and low old the debts are.
The Bankruptcy Lawyer Des Moines will need to know about any real estate you own, any taxes you owe, and if you have student loans. Taxes and student loans can’t be discharged in a bankruptcy, but the debt amounts play a part in determining whether you qualify for chapter 7 or chapter 13. The attorney will have you take a bankruptcy means test to determine if you’re eligible to file for bankruptcy and for which kind.
Several years ago, the fees for filing for bankruptcy and the number of legal paperwork requirements sharply increased in order to discourage frivolous filing. As a result, the fees for a Bankruptcy Lawyer Des Moines also rose accordingly due to the extra amount of paperwork the attorney has to take care of. The attorney you hire will require payment for their services in full at the time of the filing, but that way you can get started gathering your creditor information and making installment payments until you have the fee paid in full, and the attorney will file for you at that time.
