The Bankruptcy Process

 The Trustee is appointed by the court to review all aspects of your case to make sure everything has been done correctly, and to make sure you have listed all your assets and all of your debts in the bankruptcy. When you hire a bankruptcy lawyer who has a lot of experience in the bankruptcy process, the bankruptcy filing will not be difficult. That attorney will inform you what to expect throughout the entire bankruptcy process. The attorney should also explain how the bankruptcy will affect your credit, and how you can rebuild your credit.

Once you decide that information regarding bankruptcy is necessary, you should schedule an appointment with a bankruptcy attorney. The bankruptcy attorney should have experience.  At your free initial bankruptcy consultation, you will explain your situation to the bankruptcy lawyer.  If you are not talking to a lawyer, you are in the wrong place. Many law firms have you speak with an assistant to give you the information you need. If the bankruptcy lawyer doesn’t have time for you when they are trying to get your business, imagine how difficult it will be to speak with the bankruptcy lawyer when your case is ongoing. The bankruptcy lawyer must be hands on. At the free initial consultation, you will learn about the different types of bankruptcy options you have. There is a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which is a liquidation. You should be given all the information you need to determine if this is the correct type of bankruptcy for you. You should also be told about a Chapter 13 bankruptcy as well. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy involves a repayment plan.  Repayment plans may be helpful and save you money in certain situations, but that needs to be discussed between you and your bankruptcy attorney at your free consultation.

After the initial consultation is over, you will be given a list of a lot of different documents the Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee will require. The trustees require a lot of documentation, and the bankruptcy case should never start without all the documentation. If there is an emergency, which does happen sometimes, you can file without all of the documentation, but it’s not preferred. Once the bankruptcy is filed, you will need to immediately bring in all of the documentation. The bankruptcy lawyer should never take any documentation unless you have all the documentation. It’s hard to remember what was brought in previously if the bankruptcy lawyer takes things in piecemeal. The documents are also time sensitive, so if a month passes, additional documents must be brought in prior to filing. In my practice, I don’t want to have any extra documentation because I don’t want the trustee seeing any more documents then they are requesting. If there are additional bank statements in my file, my secretary may send those extra documents. I don’t want those mistakes to happen. There will also be a request for additional documents after the bankruptcy is filed. For example, the trustee will always require the bank statement you receive after the case is filed. They need to know exactly how much money was in your bank account on the date of filing. We will not have that information on the day we file, because you will not have had that information to give us. So, our office will notify you that additional documentation is necessary for the trustee. 

In a Chapter 13 case, there may be a lot more information than just your date of filing a bank statement that the Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee will require. For example, some trustees will require you to give them all checks that are in excess of $1,000.00, and to explain what they were for.  You also may have to prove your expenses by showing your insurance bill or accounts for your retirement. The Chapter 13 trustee does not give a lot of time to get these documents.  So they may request the documentation on a Friday for a hearing on the following Tuesday.  Our office is not rushing you because we are not acting promptly. We just don’t have a lot of time to get prepared for the hearing before the court.

There will be only one hearing that you will have to attend after the bankruptcy is filed.  This is true for either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 filing. The hearing is called a Section 341 Meeting or Meeting of Creditors. Creditors rarely show up at these hearings. The hearings take literally two minutes once you get called. During Covid, these hearings are held by phone. You will be fully prepared to answer all questions prior to the hearing..  You should call in about 15 minutes prior to the hearing. The benefit of calling in early is that you will hear the trustee or her counsel ask the same questions they will ask you.  Once that hearing is over, it is the bankruptcy attorney who will handle the rest of the court appearances. In a Chapter 13 case, you will be required to make payments to the Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee starting 30 days after the case is filed.  If we go to the Section 341 meeting, and you haven’t made your payments timely, your case will be dismissed.  Keep receipts of all cashiers checks or money orders that you send to the Chapter 13 trustee because they can always trace those checks by the number on the check.  The trustee does rarely make mistakes, but as long as you have sent in a cashier’s check or money order, you will always have proof that you have made the payment.  Our office will make the process as simple as possible.  We know how stressful this bankruptcy process is, and we will do whatever we can to make it as pleasant and un-stressful as possible.