1. Have you completed the credit counseling requirement? 2. Have you ever filed bankruptcy? If so – when?
As a virtual bankruptcy assistant working for bankruptcy attorneys, we have encountered several problems when not asking these questions before drafting the petition. After the attorney has the client fill out the Client Intake Forms and sends them to us, we assume the attorney has already qualified these debtors. But as amazing as it sounds – we have spent many hours inputting information into the bankruptcy petition only to find out the client has not completed the credit counseling requirement.
At this stage we have no choice but to immediately stop drafting the bankruptcy petition and notify the attorney at once. Unless the debtor can go online and obtain his or her credit counseling certificate within a few days, the figures we entered into the bankruptcy software will need to be changed. Therefore, we will stop the process. Then, when the client obtains the credit counseling certificate, we will go back and update the Means Test as well as any additional income information on Schedules I and J and year-to-date totals under Item #1 or #2 of the Statement of Affairs.
But if you want to eliminate the possibility of this situation occurring altogether, do not input a bankruptcy petition until you have verified the debtor has completed the credit counseling requirement. This information should be provided by the attorney you are working for or a member of the law staff. But in our experience, we obtained this information from the debtor during the client intake interview.
The same thing holds true regarding prior bankruptcy filings. If you discover a debtor has filed bankruptcy within the past 2 years, you will want to use the information below to determine if the debtor's are eligible to file.
Under the new bankruptcy law:
1. If someone files a Chapter 7, they cannot file another Chapter 7 for 8 years.
2. If someone files a Chapter 7, they cannot file a Chapter 13 for 4 years.
3. If someone files a Chapter 13, they cannot file a Chapter 7 for 6 years.
4. If someone files a Chapter 13, they cannot file another Chapter 13 for 2 years.
Completing this step before drafting the bankruptcy petition will save you, your attorney and the law firm a great deal of time and expense.
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Assessing the filing bankruptcy cost is an important step if you are on the way to file a court petition for bankruptcy. Since you are filing for bankruptcy, it is a clear indication that you are in a deep financial trouble and the debts that you owe to various creditors are much more than what you can pay using the current sources of all your income.
Therefore, it is understandable that you would not be in a position to pay a substantial amount to defend your claim in the bankruptcy court. You will be happy to know that now there are many options available to you, using which you can file for bankruptcy without spending a fortune. All you need to do is just to keep in mind the following factors.
Filing Fee
The filing fee for bankruptcy has increased substantially in the last few years. You can imagine the substantial rise in the fee with the very fact in the last four years; the filing bankruptcy cost has risen to four times. Some four years ago, you would need to pay only few dollars in order to file for bankruptcy, but now, you need to pay somewhere between two hundred dollars to one thousand of dollars, depending upon your specific case and the type of bankruptcy you are filing for.
Also, do not forget, that in order to file for bankruptcy, first you need to purchase many forms, which contribute a major portion of the overall filing fee.
How To Save Money on Filing Bankruptcy
You can use the online forms processing services to reduce the filing bankruptcy cost. These services are available for anybody, no matter which part of the United State of America you live in. The great thing about the online bankruptcy forms processing services is that they offer you all types of forms free of cost, irrespective of which type of bankruptcy you are filing your court petition for. You can simply download these forms, fill out, and submit the same to the court.
What is more, if you want to save more, you may also ask the online processing agency to check out if you have filled the forms in a correct way and every thing is in line with the corresponding bankruptcy laws. The online agency will do the review for you at a very economical rate, which is much less than what you need to pay to the bankruptcy attorney for the same job. This way, you can also cut off the substantial amount in the attorney fee. However, you should note that it only reduces your filing bankruptcy cost; it does not cut off the role and importance of a good attorney.
Both Victoria Ring Ring & Apurva Shree are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Victoria Ring Ring has sinced written about articles on various topics from Bankruptcy Law, Bankruptcy Law. Victoria Ring is a Certified Paralegal and Bankruptcy Specialist. She has developed an entire line of training products and holds several seminars per year in drafting bankruptcy petitions. Her training materials have been approved by NALS for 7 CLE credi. Victoria Ring Ring's top article generates over 720 views. to your Favourites.
Apurva Shree has sinced written about articles on various topics from Investments, Teeth Whitening and The Internet. While you file court petition for bankruptcy in a bankruptcy court, you should also pay much attention towards the fee that the