Bankruptcy

Don?t Wait Until You?re Completely Broke to Contact a Bankruptcy Lawyer

By Nicholas Ortiz, Boston Bankruptcy Attorney

People sometimes spend down the last of their cash and then decide they need bankruptcy. This seems like common sense: you go broke and then you go bankrupt. But this is not how it works. There?s a saying that goes, ?bankruptcy is not for paupers.? This means that bankruptcy costs money and is usually not for people who don?t have any.

So what do you do? The smart move is to take an honest look at your budget and savings. Calculate the number of months you have left to burn through your cash while living and paying your debts. Contact a bankruptcy lawyer a few months before the end of this period. If bankruptcy is appropriate for you, the lawyer will be able to take his fee out of the money you would have otherwise spent on debts and help you get you relief from the ongoing need to pay debts. If bankruptcy is not a fit for you, then you can go about your regular business after talking to the lawyer.

All is not lost if you wait until you are tapped out. However, it makes the process tougher. It will extend the process by the time it takes for you to save the money for the cost of bankruptcy. Some lawyers, like myself, offer payment plans to help make this a bit easier, but you must finish the payment plan before your case is filed. This is true for all lawyers because continuing a payment plan after a Chapter 7 case is filed is illegal.

I am a bankruptcy lawyer in Massachusetts and I offer free initial consultations for consumer cases in Eastern Mass. It is pretty common for bankruptcy lawyers to initially talk with you a bit for free.

Conclusion: find a bankruptcy lawyer in your state to consult with before you run completely out of money.

Full post as published by Bankruptcy Law Network on August 23, 2010 (boomark / email).