A Chicago Bankruptcy Timeframe for a case can last anywhere from 3 to 4 months from filing until discharge. This assumes that there is no objection to your discharge or no adversarial complaint in your case. Let's start at the beginning. You need to meet with a bankruptcy attorney to go over your income, your expenses, your assets, your liabilities and of course, your financial situation in total. From that point, if you hire the attorney, a bankruptcy petition will be prepared for you to sign. This petition is a 40 to 60 page document that contains all the information about your finances. Before your case can be officially filed, you will need to complete a few pre-filing + Click Here For Read More

The interplay between divorce and bankruptcy is confusing. There are also important decisions to make when deciding whether to file bankruptcy and when to end a marriage. Divorcing is generally easier on all parties when the divorcing couple can agree on as many issues as possible. This is especially true for division of debt in divorce. Example For our example we will look at a married couple with debt in both names (also known as co-signed debt) where only one spouse files chapter 7 bankruptcy. Spouse A chooses not to file bankruptcy and Spouse B chooses to file bankruptcy. Spouse A is solely responsible for paying the co-signed debt. The creditor may collect against Spouse A who did + Click Here For Read More

New Filing Fees Starting June 1, 2014, bankruptcy filing fees are going to increase. The filing fee for a chapter 7 bankruptcy case is increasing to $335.00. The filing fee for a chapter 13 bankruptcy case is increasing to $310. 00. So if you're already struggling to pay your debts and are seeking bankruptcy protection, you're going to have to save up some money just for the filing fee. I haven't even mentioned the attorneys’ fees that are required on top of that. See Fee Schedule Increase Notice.  Fees Should Decrease It's ironic that in this new age of electronic filing, fees would actually increase. It would make more sense that fees would actually remain the same or go down based on + Click Here For Read More

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Discharge There are certain eligibility requirements in reference to getting a discharge under the bankruptcy code. Let's begin with the most common form of bankruptcy which is a chapter 7 fresh start. Chapter 7 is when someone, an individual typically, has very little in the way of personal assets but has a ton of debt. This person is seeking a fresh start under chapter 7 of the United States bankruptcy code. A person can receive a discharge under chapter 7 bankruptcy once every eight years. This basically means that once you file a chapter 7 bankruptcy, you are not eligible for that relief again for eight years. Timing Here's where the math changes. If you are + Click Here For Read More

The most important thing about filing bankruptcy is the initial consultation with a bankruptcy attorney. It is not the price. It is not the location of the office. It is not the number of cases that the attorney has filed over the year. It is not whether that attorney is advertising on television. It is not whether that attorney has a Facebook page. The most important item is the knowledge, experience, and the ability to spot issues at the initial consultation stage.  The In-Take Questionnaire Most bankruptcy attorneys utilize an in-take questionnaire. This is a document the clients fill out which lists all kinds of information including their name, address, employment, assets, + Click Here For Read More

Not A Failure Filing bankruptcy does not have to be looked upon as a failure. Bankruptcy can be looked upon as an opportunity to get a fresh start or to reorganize debt under existing federal bankruptcy laws. I don't believe anyone sets out to file for bankruptcy. However, certain events happen in life that leads to that result. For example, if you are someone who did not have health insurance and then had a catastrophic illness or injury, without bankruptcy you would likely never be able to get out of that debt. Perhaps you are someone who lost a job through no fault of your own and simply was not able to find adequate replacement work within a reasonable period of time. During the + Click Here For Read More

File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy To Protect Property The first reason why somebody would want to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy is if they have something they want to protect. What I'm talking about here is something of value that is subject to a taking if a bankruptcy case is not file. This could be wages. If someone is currently being garnished, the creditor can obtain up to 15% of the net income from the debtor. Until such time that the debtor actually files for bankruptcy, the creditor will continue to take the wages or a portion of the wages over time. Another scenario is where someone has a bank account that is subject to a seizure or a attachment. If a bankruptcy case is not filed, either all or + Click Here For Read More

Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyer Explains According to Chicago bankruptcy lawyer David Siegel, some property should be reaffirmed.  With secured property such as a vehicle, furniture, jewelry, electronics, those are secured items. Therefore, when you file a chapter 7 bankruptcy you have effectively eliminated the debt on those items if you want to give up the property.   So, if you are way upside down on a car and you filed a chapter 7, this is your chance to give the car back and owe nothing to the lender. However, most people want to keep their car or keep their electronics or furniture or jewelry; so they enter into a reaffirmation agreement.  The reaffirmation agreement effectively puts the + Click Here For Read More

Filing for bankruptcy in Chicago does not mean that you lose your home. You can often maintain your home by making current payments under either chapter 7 bankruptcy or chapter 13 bankruptcy. If you do wish to surrender your home and you have filed chapter 7 bankruptcy, you still have time in your home. Under Illinois law, the foreclosure process can be very lengthy. The average time that a person can stay in their home once a foreclosure case has begun is approximately 11 months. If you have an attorney defending your foreclosure case, then you may be able to maintain possession of your home for more than 1 1/2 years. Please keep in mind that when you file for chapter 7 bankruptcy, the + Click Here For Read More

There are times when filing chapter 7 bankruptcy would be a mistake. The most common type of mistake made in filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy is the fact that assets are going to be taken by the chapter 7 trustee. In the state of Illinois, you are allowed to protect a certain amount of property free and clear from the long arm of the trustee. These amounts, known as exemptions apply to real estate, vehicles, retirement benefits, and many other types of property. In Illinois, you can protect up to $15,000 worth of equity in your real estate. If you are filing jointly, then you can protect up to $30,000 worth of equity. In reality, the amount of equity that you will be able to protect will + Click Here For Read More