How does one, er, how do you* file for bankruptcy?*

Let me be clear:

You do so with a little help from your friends. Well, your attorney and his staff.

Make no mistake:

Your attorney and his staff will do it right by you. Guide you along the way. I see now the Court e-mails spitting out notices of discharge, one after another. Discharge signifies successful completion of a bankruptcy case. These notices tell my clients they can now better provide for their families. They've made a bold financial move and it's paid off.

Change isn't easy:

If you're still current on payments, the situation begs for a paradigm shift (whatever that means). You've been making minimum payments forever, yet not putting a dent in your principal debt. Once you elect to file, you should usually** stop the hardship-causing payments on dischargeable debts. Punishing yourself with further sacrifice defeats the purpose of bankruptcy. It's hard to deliberately cease payments when you've always been current.*** It can be a radical change. But it doesn't make sense to throw good money after bad. Not anymore.

It won't happen overnight:

Filing for bankruptcy is more Subway than McDonald's. You have to help your sandwich artist (or attorney) put your meal together. Your bankruptcy petition isn't sitting beneath a heat lamp.

Your sandwich artist will work quickly, but he needs your help. He needs your facts, so he can apply the law.

There will be setbacks and false starts:

Sometimes things change. Your income might increase. Or decrease. This may change our initial assessment. But we only file when it is in your best interest to do so. Sometimes, this means postponing filing. It's the nature of the beast and we abide by its rules to ensure successful results.

___________________________

*Why would one think "one" in lieu of the generic "you" would favor one's Google keyword-standing?

**When you can't make payments without undue sacrifice, then stopping them makes sense as long as you did not incur recent dischargeable debt (debt you can get rid of in bankruptcy). If you incurred new debt recently and haven't paid back an equivalent amount, this implies bad faith,

even if you clearly decided to file bankruptcy after you incurred the new debt. Every case is unique. One should only act upon specific advice by their retained counsel (rather than a blog).

***Maintaining currency by paying minimum dues while not decreasing your balance is not an achievement. It is counterproductive, when you have the healthy alternative of debt-busting bankruptcy.

Asaph Abrams

Attorney at law, licensed in California state and federal courts

Call us at 858-344-0500. Ask for Jodi to set a free consultation. Or e-mail admin@abramslawsd.com to set a good time to come in.

We are a Federally-designated debt relief agency. We help people file for chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy protection. We can help you.