Declare Bankruptcy
If you are amidst a financial crisis and it seems there is no way out, knowing how to declare bankruptcy could be the factor that makes the difference between whether you sink or swim. While the concept of bankruptcy, in itself, can appear quite intimidating and costly, the fact of the matter is that doing so may save your home, cars and financial future.
The first step in knowing how to declare bankruptcy is knowing the importance of hiring an experienced attorney to go through the process on your behalf. Bankruptcy law is forever changing and the rules, statutes, codes and other technicalities are difficult for a pro-se (self-represented) petitioner to keep up with. Self-representation would mean a lot of trips back and forth to the federal bankruptcy courthouse, a lot of time taken for a load of stacked paperwork, and a lot of fees (not to mention money spent in gasoline getting everything where it is supposed to go). Bankruptcy attorneys usually understand that financial disaster is what brought you to them in the first place, so most will accept a reasonable down-payment on a retainer for their services.
Once you have retained an experienced bankruptcy attorney, he will need to review your income and expenses. It is of utmost importance that you are honest about these things because the judge at the courthouse will want to see proof and compare it to the request for which type of bankruptcy that your judge will make. If you are advised to file a chapter 7 bankruptcy, your debts will be dissolved, although the downfall is that you may eventually lose your home and vehicles in the process, if you are not able to make arrangements with the debtors at this point. In a chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will be able to stop a foreclosure and restructure your past debt with the lender, but you will have monthly payments to make to a court-appointed Trustee. Knowing how to declare bankruptcy makes the process much easier, and by using your own knowledge in combination with your attorney’s expertise, you should come out on top when all is said and done.