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How Can Bankruptcy Help Me?

By Carmen Dellutri, Southwest Florida Bankruptcy Atto

As a Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney, I meet quite a few people who are investigating what bankruptcy can do for them.  Often the question will arise:  How Can Bankruptcy Help Me?  I think it is a great question, and it is one that I try to answer for each and every individual that walks through my door.

If you think of a consumer bankruptcy filing like a game of chess, you will see different strategies begin to unfold as your assets are revealed.  As a consumer bankruptcy attorney, I am there to provide you with the insight and analysis of each and every option available to you as the game unfolds.

Let’s face it, not everyone who walks through my door is going to file for bankruptcy, nor do they need to, nor should they.  As a matter of fact, I tell many people that they should not file for bankruptcy protection because it would be a very bad move for them.  But, I try to help them all.

So, when an individual comes to see me, I need to know about each and every asset, every debt, all the household income and all of the expenses.  I will be the first to admit that I would be a bit worried about supplying all of this information to someone that I do not know and whom I have not met before.

While this may seem a bit overwhelming to many people, it is the only way for us to truly see the entire chess board and apply the various tools that we have at our disposal.  After practicing consumer bankruptcy law for many years, I will be the first to say that a successful case requires complete honesty between the client and attorney.

For example, I live in Florida where we have a bifurcated system.  In other words, we use Federal and State law in navigating your case through the system.  So, depending upon your situation, I may have more tools available to me or less.  In some jurisdictions, they may only use Federal law and that may be more advantageous to your situation or less advantageous, it depends on many different factors.  So, clients need to lay everything on the table because if they hold back information, I may not employ a strategy that could benefit them.

Once the cards are on the table and a strategy is created, clients begin to see not only the potential benefits but also the end of the game, and they see how, by employing a different financial strategy, changes in their monetary habits will benefit them immediately and for the rest of their lives.

Then I re-word the question:  Do you now see how bankruptcy can help you?  This is when I see the little light bulb go on above their heads and I realize that even if they do not file bankruptcy, the idea has been set into their minds.  ”Check—— Mate”

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Full post as published by Credit Law Network on February 28, 2011 (boomark / email).