Bankruptcy Lawyer (Ultimate Guide for Hiring a Professional)

A bankruptcy lawyer is one of the important legal representatives that can help you to carry out your bankruptcy operations. Without a doubt, getting a legal consultancy from a professional can make everything on your mind clear.

This is why no one should underestimate the importance of working with a bankruptcy lawyer. As you might guess or currently experience, bankruptcy is a challenging problem. It makes the people go into debt but also impairs their mental health.

In such cases, it will be logical to benefit from the services of a bankruptcy attorney to make things easier for you. Though hiring one is not mandatory. You can find out more about all the details in this ultimate guide.

What Are Bankruptcy Types?

In the United States, there are a total of six bankruptcy types. However, the number of these two falls to two when you are going to file for bankruptcy. These types are known as Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.

A bankruptcy lawyer can be helpful for you in both of these types. In addition to this, if you are running a business and going to file for bankruptcy, then a professional can also help you to carry out all the procedures for six bankruptcy types without any challenge.

While Chapter 7 bankruptcy is known as liquidation bankruptcy, Chapter 13 is known as a repayment plan or wage earner’s plan. If you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, then all your debts will be wiped out. On the other hand, you will have to pay off your debts between three to five years in Chapter 13.

What Is a Bankruptcy Lawyer?

A bankruptcy lawyer is a professional who specializes in bankruptcy laws in the United States. These professionals give legal advice to their clients to make sure that they will complete the process with minimum loss.

In addition to this, a bankruptcy attorney can prepare all the legal documents on your behalf and represent you in court. One should have the required law degree and a license to serve his or her clients.

In other words, a professional will show you what you need to do to file for bankruptcy and complete the processes. Most of the time, he or she will be handling all the processes on your behalf as well.

What Can You Expect from a Bankruptcy Lawyer?

Of course, there are some things you need to expect from your bankruptcy lawyer. First of all, just like all lawyers, you need to have a written contract or agreement, which will assure the relationship between you, as a client, and your lawyer.

Moreover, you need to have clear documentation about the payment arrangements at hand. Will the lawyer charge you a flat fee? Will he or she charge you an hourly rate? What are the rates? All these should be clearly expressed in the document.

Additionally, a professional should inform you clearly about the processes and request a list of documents from you. All these documents will be related to your bankruptcy case.

When Should You Consider Hiring a Bankruptcy Lawyer?

Sometimes, people may not be aware that they are on the edge of bankruptcy and should hire a bankruptcy lawyer. In this section, we will provide detailed information about when you may want to start considering filing for bankruptcy.

If you can only make minimum monthly payments for your overdue bills or you have maxed out your credit card, it may be a good sign. In addition to this, if your debt is constantly increasing and you are not able to pay them anymore, you can also file for bankruptcy.

Paying overdraft fees, using your credit card for your daily spending, creditors suing you, and collection agencies calling you are other good signs that you need to file a bankruptcy. In these cases, you can always consult a professional and discuss the details.

Do You Need to Hire a Bankruptcy Lawyer?

Although one can carry out all these bankruptcy operations on his own, it will be logical to work with a bankruptcy lawyer. If you do not have any funds to hire one, the government can also assign you one if you meet certain conditions.

On the other hand, not all of us are experienced in laws or visiting courts. Thus, if you are feeling uncomfortable about the processes, which is quite natural, you can consider hiring a bankruptcy attorney.

In this way, you will not have to worry about any paperwork or any processes regarding your case. Your lawyer will be informing you about the updates depending on your agreement between you and him or her.

How Much Does a Bankruptcy Lawyer Cost?

Although these costs may vary depending on where you live and which bankruptcy lawyer you would like to hire, we have shared some average costs here.

If you are going to file bankruptcy as a part of Chapter 7, then the average fee you are going to pay will be around $1,500. On the other hand, if you are going to file bankruptcy as a part of Chapter 13, then your average cost will be around $3,500.

Besides these costs, you will also pay a filing fee as well as financial management courses and credit counseling fees. Filing fees vary between $313 and $338.

How Can You Find a Bankruptcy Lawyer?

The best way to find a bankruptcy lawyer is to consult your close circle. If they have worked with a professional before and they are happy with his or her services, then you can choose the same lawyer.

On the other hand, you can also ask the government to assign a bankruptcy attorney for you. There are certain requirements, such as being a low-income individual and so on. If you meet these requirements, you will not have to hire one on your own.

Another option is doing your own research, which is pretty straightforward and simple. All you need to do is search for a bankruptcy lawyer near me and query on any search engine you want. This will list all the professionals in your area only in seconds.