Bankruptcy

How Quickly Can You Get My Bankruptcy Case Filed?

By Joseph McDaniel, Esq.

Well, I can file very quickly indeed. I've got this electronic button, see?

But that's not the real question.

The real question is, how quickly can a bankruptcy be filed so that risk in filing is minimized to a good extent, and a reasonably good result obtained for the client?

For that question, the answer is simple: the client is the limiting factor.

How quickly can a client COMPLETELY fill out the forms online, with a COMPLETE list of creditors and a COMPLETE itemized list of assets, with replacement values determined with a good amount of due diligence on eBay, Zillow and Blue Book?

And how quickly can the client respond to Heidi's questions when she wants to know why they show spending $324.56 per month for gas, and they didn't list owning a car?

And how quickly can the client spend the money in their bank account using a debit card or cashier's checks in the week prior to filing, so that their family can eat and the electricity stays turned on, and the client doesn't have to pay the bankruptcy trustee an extra $4,325.73 that was in the bank account at the instant of filing?

And how quickly can the client read my blog, so the client knows what's going to happen before the filing, at the first meeting of creditors, how long to get the discharge (IF they get a discharge), how long until they actually SEE their discharge, and what happens AFTER the discharge in their bankruptcy case?

We'll talk, but it's a better idea not to wait till the last minute. Because while bankruptcy filings can't normally be optimized like income tax returns, they can be filed and give rise to bad consequences if a client pushes for an immediate filing and doesn't pay attention to the process.

Will I file a bankruptcy case for a client just because a client screams at me to file for them?

Depends. It's a little like setting a bone without the x-rays, but it depends on the facts. And how loud they scream.

But I'll usually just fire 'em as a client.

The same way a bone doc should fire a patient who insists on getting the bone reset without the x-rays.

NOTHING HERE CONSTITUTES LEGAL ADVICE RE A CHAPTER 7, CHAPTER 13, CHAPTER 11, OR CHAPTER 12. FIND AN ARIZONA BANKRUPTCY LAWYER WHO IS BOARD CERTIFIED IN BANKRUPTCY LAW, AV RATED, AVVO 10 RATED, ON SUPERLAWYERS, OR JUST VERY EXPERIENCED AND A FORMER CHAIR OF SOME BANKRUPTCY SECTION OR COMMITTEE. NOTHING HERE MAY BE USED AS LEGAL ADVICE IN CONNECTION WITH ANY BANKRUPTCY, WHETHER THAT BANKRUPTCY IS IN PHOENIX, GLENDALE, TEMPE, MESA, SCOTTSDALE, OR ANYWHERE ELSE.

Full post as published by Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney Blog on August 11, 2009 (boomark / email).