Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney Tips and Advice

A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy attorney is a legal professional who basically helps a financially distressed individual deal with being bankrupt. A good lawyer basically guides and aids his client to a better position than where he is currently. The stigma of declaring being bankrupt is one thing that basically hampers an individual from declaring this state. Many believe that others will feel sorry for them and they are ashamed to go through this path. The reality of it is that these options can help to make things better. This form of bankruptcy is only applicable for individuals not for corporations and establishments. There are some limitations regarding how many times a person may file for this particular case and may not be applicable for an individual who has earned some ire from the court by not appearing on previous cases like these or by not complying to the orders of the court. 

Signs of Being Bankrupt

There are signs that indicate when a person may be going through a financial crisis. These signs include, but are not limited to the following, not even able to pay the minimum requirement for each credit card billing, bills keep on piling up and the individual needs to juggle finances to pay for each billing and being aggressively hounded by creditors (on the phone or personally) for payments. These are some of the glaring signs that the services of a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy attorney may be needed. Lifestyle changes are also other signs of financial difficulty. Not being able to maintain a past lifestyle such as eating out twice or thrice a week, buying new clothes every month and going on vacations may be the starting signals of a floundering financial state. 

Help for Bankruptcy

A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy attorney can guide the individual towards a better life from where he is currently. He initially assesses the situation of the individual who needs his help and recommends the best way to make it better. The first thing after assessing the situation is to file for bankruptcy. It basically gives out a stay order to all creditors and gives the individual some relief from the hounding and the pestering for payments. After this, the court will then appoint a trustee who will segregate the assets into which are exempt and which can be used to pay off all or some of the outstanding debts. The sale of the non exempt assets will be controlled by the trustee, so with the segregating of the proceeds to the people whom the individual owes debts to. The Chapter 7 Bankruptcy attorney will advise his client beforehand, which items, assets or properties are exempt and which ones are not. It is possible that all of the material possessions or properties of the client may be sold during this process. Exemptions may apply to certain properties but which ones they are may be dependent on which state the case will be heard. The names of those whom the client owes money to are given to the court as well as the list of properties. Monthly living expenses will also feature in the assessment of the court.