It’s bankruptcy that we’re talking about and so, money is in short supply. Because of this, when many people first start considering bankruptcy as a viable option for themselves, they often consider if they can file themselves, rather than hire a bankruptcy lawyer. This might seem like a great way to save even more money and it’s entirely possible to file yourself, there are plenty of good reasons why you shouldn’t.
Once you file for bankruptcy, you should contact your creditors and let them know that you’ve done so. After this, whether you’ve already hired a bankruptcy lawyer or not, collections agencies and other creditors may still contact you and harass you for their money. Some even up the ante at this point because they know it’s only a matter of time before you’ll no longer be legally obligated for those debts. But, if you hire a bankruptcy lawyer, you can tell them they may only contact you through your lawyer. After that, if creditors want to contact you they are only legally permitted to call your lawyer and ask your lawyer to tell you to contact them.
Hiring a bankruptcy lawyer will also give you much more information that you’d have available to you filing on your own. There are a lot of steps involved in filing for bankruptcy. You have to speak to the courts, the trustees who review your case, and your current creditors. You can research all of the steps and how to complete them on your own, but a bankruptcy lawyer will take care of all of that for you. They will let you know in plain English what you need to do and when, and that everything is on track.
More than that, bankruptcy lawyers will also be able to fill you in on things that you may not find when doing research on your own. For instance, you may want to file for bankruptcy because you have a very large debt from 15 years ago that you simply can’t pay off. While you will be able to find out how to file for bankruptcy yourself, a bankruptcy lawyer will tell you that the statute of limitations has run out on that debt, and so you’re no longer legally responsible for it anyway. Without hiring a lawyer, you would have gone bankrupt when you didn’t have to!
A bankruptcy lawyer will not only be able to tell you the things you should be doing, but also the things that you shouldn’t. If you make a mistake when filing for bankruptcy, your case could be dropped by the courts and you may be forced to start the entire process over again. Even the slightest error could cause a major delay when filing for bankruptcy. And when you’re waiting for your debts to be erased and creditors keep calling, time is of the essence! A bankruptcy lawyer will ensure that there are no mistakes when your bankruptcy claim is filed, and so it will be granted that much faster, putting you on the road to financial well-being even quicker.
Even though bankruptcy lawyers make their money from people going bankrupt, they still don’t like to see it happen to people, and they’ll still often offer consultation services when it comes to finding alternatives to bankruptcy. Many alternatives to bankruptcy are out there, and some of them might be better for you now and in the future when it comes to your finances. A bankruptcy lawyer will clearly outline all of these alternatives with you and go over them in detail to see if any of them will work for you.