By: Sarah J. Crouch

The first step in establishing any kind of new financial existence for yourself is to make sure that you know where you are right now.

I know.  This sounds basic.  And you probably have a one word answer for the “How are my finances now question?”

BROKE.

This may or may not be true.  I have lost track of the number of times I have told my clients that they should have money left at the end of the month and been called an insane person.  So I say, well let’s look at the bank statement and when I am done taking out all of the absolutely unnecessary expenses, my clients are a little surprised by how much money they have arguably thrown into a pit and set fire too.

So here is where we start:

Get out your online bank account or bank statements and make a chart with four columns on a piece of paper.

Income    Expenses    Luxuries      DEBT

(I know…I know…you don’t have any luxuries in your life…we will get to that.  I swear I am not an insane person.)

Now, take a look at your bank statement and under each of those headlines put in the pertinent information.  Under income, put all of your income in there, don’t forget to account for regular expense checks.  Under expenses put actual expenses only.  I am talking about Utility Bills, Mortgage, Groceries (don’t include trips to Target where you also bought a scarf or jeans).  I don’t want to see trips to McDonalds or Dunkin at lunchtime.  Only actual necessary expenses.

Now, under luxuries, put the trips to Dunkin, McDonalds, Starbucks (GUILTY), the scarves at Target (SUPER GUILTY), and all the little extras that we all spend money and don’t think about.  I want you to put every single one of these that you spent money on in the last month in that column and add it up.  Scary right?  How high is that number?  I know when I did this for myself it came to about 150 bucks, and I am fairly good about the fast food.  I don’t eat much of it….now Starbucks and Target…that is another story.  My assistant figured out that between her and her son she was spending about 250 bucks  a month on fast food.  We all do it.  We are all guilty, you are not a bad person for having a high number here, this problem sneaks up on the best of us.

Now let’s take a look at the debt column.  Are these balances on the rise, are they revolving but you aren’t making a dent?  Are you having trouble keeping up with the mortgage?  Medical bills?   Is the whole situation a giant house of cards that will fall as soon as you have a kid need to stay home sick from school?

Now, here is the fun part.

Take this chart and make an appointment with a financial professional, an accountant, a financial planner, a bankruptcy attorney, for a consultation with someone that can help you.  Someone with a license, a degree, and a pile of happy clients, not your brother who does his taxes with H&R Block every year and seems to be good at math or your sister that filed bankruptcy a few years ago and knows everything about it.  Instead, discreetly ask around to see if anyone knows one someone that has helped them with financial issues.  You will be shocked by how many of your family, friends, and colleagues have been in my office.

I see a lot of new clients this time of year.  People walk into my office and say, “I just can’t do it anymore” or “I don’t even know where to start”.  We go over their income, expenses, debt, and general financial issues and decide how best to attack this problem.

Sometimes the answer is a bankruptcy case.  Sometimes it is just the best way out.  I say this because a lot of people think that bankruptcy should be a last resort.  I disagree.  I wish more people came to before it was the only way out, back when it is the best way out.  This means I am not racing a garnishment to the courthouse door.  We are on the offensive in a financial situation instead of playing defense.

I say to my clients all the time, “If I could wave my magic wand and make all of these credit card and medical bills disappear, would you be able to pay your bills?”  99.9% of the time the answer to that question is “YES.”  If that is how you would answer that question, bankruptcy might be the BEST solution and not the ONLY solution.  This is an important distinction when you are assessing your situation as a whole.

Other times, more careful budgeting and watching that luxury column is the best solution.  Sometimes, thinking about a second part time job is the best solution.

This is what assessing the situation gets you too.  It gets you to a starting point.  DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.  It is mission critical.

So you have your starting point, now what?  What is the plan?  Time to set goals and put together a budget!

Next time:  Setting A Goal and Making a Budget

 

Interested in how we can help you file bankruptcy or assess your financial existence?  Give our office a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out our online consultation form and we will call you!

It is that time of year.  We are all making resolutions to be fitter, lose weight, save more money, be happier, the works.

We are all making promises to ourselves.  This is great.  It’s wonderful when people resolve to improve themselves.  Better yet, this is the only time of year that we seek a plan.  EVEN BETTER.  Without a plan a goal is just an idea.  If you don’t have a plan for how to get there, it is going to be difficult if not impossible.

So I’m here to help with your financial goals.  You want to get out of debt, save more money, maybe get solvent in such a serious way that you can afford a new splurge.  Awesome!  But how do you do it?  Where do you start?

I say you start from the beginning, a very good place to start.  So I present to you the New Year, New Financial You blog series!  I am going to post articles throughout the month of January on how to start cleaning up your finances,  how to set a goal, stay on budget, save, deal with obstacles and knowing when you get to splurge and when to walk away.  These are incredibly valuable skills that will take time, discipline and patience to develop — just like your weight loss and fitness resolution.

Even better, I am going to do them along with you to show you how to make them work!  As it turns out, bankruptcy attorneys have budgets too!  I will share savings tools, web and mobile applications I love and hate and programs I use in my home to stay on task and on budget.  I will share what works, what doesn’t, and how to adjust things to make them work based on my own experience in using these tools.

We will talk a lot about timing because, to be perfectly honest, I feel that timing is everything, particularly for pre and post bankruptcy clients.  For example, certain savings tools are great post bankruptcy when your goal is to save but not so great prior to a bankruptcy when the goal is different.

Currently the plan for the articles will go as follows:

Assessing the Status Quo

Setting Your Goal

Budgets, Budgets, Budgets

Tools for Saving

Dealing with Financial Obstacles

When to Spend for Fun!

Requests for additional topics are welcome, diversions from this subject will happen!  I am more often than not inspired by what I hear in the courtroom, from colleagues, from clients, and things I see in social media.

So here we go.  New Year, New You, Happier Savings Balance.

Happy New Year!!!!

 

By Michael Estrin• Bankrate.com

Bankruptcy lawyers often are the beneficiaries of a tough economy, but their clients, many of whom know little about the process and have scant time to research it, are usually at a loss when it comes to seeking the help of an expert.With creditors closing in and desperation mounting, many people foolishly select a bankruptcy attorney based on price, an advertisement or, worst of all, no criteria at all. But selecting the right person to handle your bankruptcy can mean the difference between an eventual rebound and long-term pain.

If you’re considering bankruptcy, here are five things to look for in a bankruptcy lawyer.

1. Get what you pay for

It’s a simple and sad fact that the fee will be a key element for most people when it comes to hiring a bankruptcy attorney. After all, money is at the root of this particular problem. But with prices ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 depending on what part of the country you live in, it’s important to make sure you’re getting exactly what you need.

Fortunately, most bankruptcy lawyers use a relatively standard agreement for a basic Chapter 7, liquidation, or Chapter 13, personal reorganization. The flat fee should include consultation with the client and analysis of the financial situation; preparation of the bankruptcy petition; reviewing the petition with the client; attendance at the meeting of creditors, known as a 341 meeting; and follow-ups with creditors, such as taking action to halt any post-filing collection efforts, if necessary.

In a Chapter 13 case, the fee should also include preparation of the reorganization plan and representation at the confirmation hearing.

According to Meaghan Tuohey-Kay, a bankruptcy lawyer in New Jersey, it’s important to make sure these services are all clearly spelled out in the representation agreement.

In all likelihood, the flat fee won’t cover eventualities like representing the debtor in an adversarial proceeding, such as when a creditor challenges the filing, and so it’s important to ask what the attorney is likely to charge for any possible litigation that may arise out of the bankruptcy. While litigation occurs in only a small number of cases, it’s a factor that all filers should consider before hiring an attorney as the costs can be high and can quickly spiral out of control.

Tuohey-Kay urges people not to choose bankruptcy lawyers based solely on price because courts often cap how much a lawyer can make on a given case, and those who routinely handle such matters tend to charge fees that cluster in the same general ballpark.

“If an attorney is offering representation that is drastically lower than other attorneys in the area, that should be a red flag that either the attorney really doesn’t do much bankruptcy and/or will cut corners on your case,” Tuohey-Kay warns. “However, most reputable attorneys will not give fees out over the phone without a complete consultation, so be wary of attorneys who just give a number over the phone without considering your specific situation.”

2. A true bankruptcy ‘expert’

Technically, any attorney can handle a bankruptcy, but in practice, only those who usually handle such cases are worth using, according to Melissa A. Herman, an Atlanta-based bankruptcy lawyer.

But clients shouldn’t use the length of an attorney’s career as an indicator of their expertise, Herman says. “The better question to ask would be: What percentage of the lawyer’s practice constitutes bankruptcy and how many cases has the lawyer filed?”

At the same time, if a lawyer advertises expertise in numerous other areas, it’s a safe bet that, at best, they are likely a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none, Tuohey-Kay says.

“If a print ad lists 10 different practice areas that include everything from municipal work, general litigation and bankruptcy, I would keep looking,” Tuohey-Kay says. “Find someone with a more limited practice.”

3. Up to date on 2005 code changes

In 2005, Congress enacted the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. The legislation, designed to reign in millionaires and habitual filers from gaming the system, brought widespread reform to the bankruptcy industry. But the changes also make it harder for some debtors who meet a minimum threshold for income, which varies by state, to file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In some cases, the law requires them to repay their debts through a reorganization rather than receiving outright forgiveness. In addition, it also required those seeking bankruptcy protections to take a credit counseling class before filing.

While it is possible that the changes to the bankruptcy code may have little or no effect on some filers, it’s nearly impossible for a person who is not a lawyer to tell beforehand how their case may differ because of the new legislation. But perhaps more troubling is the possibility that some “experienced” bankruptcy lawyers aren’t current on the 2005 changes, according to Frank Terzo, an attorney who heads the bankruptcy practice for the Miami branch of the GrayRobinson law firm.

But how can you tell? Unfortunately, there are no simple answers. One piece of advice Terzo has is to simply ask how, if at all, your case is likely to be impacted by the 2005 changes to the bankruptcy code. If a lawyer can’t answer the broad strokes of that question in the initial consultation, says Terzo, it’s likely this is not the lawyer you want to represent you.

4. Don’t get run through a mill

While you should always seek out the services of an experienced bankruptcy practitioner, one common pitfall can be falling into the hands of what lawyers call a bankruptcy mill, a firm that churns and burns cases with little regard for their client’s specific needs. Such firms are notorious for shoddy legal work, unhappy clients and raising the suspicions of judges and trustees, who worry that mills, and their clients, are more likely to try and pull a fast one on creditors by abusing the process.

The trouble is that spotting a mill can be rather difficult for a person who is not a lawyer. But a good first step is to check with your local bar association for recommendations on attorneys who specialize in bankruptcy, says Terzo, who points out that most mills don’t do the kind of lawyer-to-lawyer networking that is a customary feature of a local bar association.

“The ranks of the local bar association are typically filled with lawyers who specialize in business bankruptcy, but there are usually more than a few lawyers who do personal work, and they tend to be the smarter, up-and-coming ones in that field,” Terzo says.

But no matter where you go initially to find an attorney, Terzo believes the client should always be on the lookout for certain red flags that could indicate a bankruptcy mill.

“If you don’t meet an actual lawyer in the initial consultation, that’s a big warning sign,” Terzo explains. Terzo adds that most mills use paralegals to do intake and prepare key documents for filing. “At some mills, the first time you meet your lawyer is at the meeting of creditors; that’s a really bad sign,” he says.

Another good way to spot a mill is by asking how many cases an attorney handles at a given time. According to attorney Toby Bartholow of Dallas, if a lawyer handles more than 30 bankruptcies per month, it’s a safe bet you’re dealing with a mill.

A high-volume practice is also likely to be characterized by quick, superficial initial consultations, according to Tuohey-Kay, who points out that even uncomplicated cases require at least an hour for the initial consultation so that the lawyer can familiarize himself with the client’s income over the previous six months and the present market value of their assets.

5. Comfortable relationship

It may sound obvious, but picking a lawyer who you aren’t comfortable with, even if the attorney is well qualified and competitive on price, is a recipe for disaster. Too often, people overlook the interpersonal factors that govern the lawyer/client relationship, according to Bartholow.

“If they don’t have a good feel for their relationship with the attorney, they should go elsewhere and not be shy about it,” Bartholow says. “Filing a bankruptcy is an emotional matter for most people, and it’s important that they feel right about what they are doing and who is doing it for them.”

While that may mean walking away from an affordable, trustworthy and qualified bankruptcy lawyer, Bartholow insists that the prospective client won’t get nearly as much as they should from their attorney if they don’t feel comfortable. That means that the preparation and research that goes into finding a good bankruptcy attorney only lays the groundwork for a more difficult choice that requires the client to trust their instincts when it comes to assessing the character of their prospective lawyer. For that, there are no guarantees, but clients who do their homework before they hire a bankruptcy attorney can be reasonably certain that they’ve found a solid advocate.

Michael Estrin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles

Article Link: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/debt/5-gotta-gets-in-a-bankruptcy-lawyer-1.aspx

I have a very specific goal every single time I talk to a prospective new client on the phone about a bankruptcy case.

I want you to feel better when we are done talking than you did when we started.

This does not always happen.  Sometimes, you will never feel better, it is a sad truth.  But MOST of the time, you do.  You really do.  And I know you think I am crazy.  How can talking to a bankruptcy attorney possibly make me feel better about my situation?  I mean, isn’t filing a bankruptcy case just going to make me feel worse?

The reason that talking to me will make you feel better is because right now you are lost.  You are wandering around aimlessly throwing money you don’t have at a bill that you are not even sure you should pay?  Am I right?  Talking to a bankruptcy attorney will give you a plan.  An actual step by step plan that you can follow to an actual endpoint in your financial distress.  We can give you a finish line.

And that is why you will feel better.  Because being lost and stressed out never helped anyone.  But having a plan.  That is everything.

 

Let us help you feel better.  Call us at 732-302-9600 or fill our our online consultation form and we will call you!

Summer used to mean sun and fun.  Cold drinks, the beach, maybe even a vacation with kids.

But things went wrong.  You lost your job, got sick, divorced? Now all the expectation of summer is just making an already tough financial situation that much more overwhelming.

Outside of the holidays there isn’t a worse time to be struggling financially than the summer.  The pressure to go on an expensive vacation and entertain kids who are home and BORED is a lot to handle.  So how do you survive?

First, Breathe.  You will get through this.

Second, get an evaluation from a bankruptcy attorney.  My goal in every consultation is for you to leave my office with a game plan.  It may not be pretty, but I promise that if you know what is going to happen, the pressure starts to release almost immediately.   So what happens in a bankruptcy consultation:  We will sit down with you and go over your whole financial picture and tell you your options.  We will review the BEST option for you.  This may not be the one you want, but our job is to guide you down the BEST road for you.  If you think it is something you want to do, we will do a retainer and get started right away.

If you are in a Chapter 7 case in the summer, this will be quick and clean.

If you are in a Chapter 13 filing your summer is going to require a bit more planning.  We are going to put you on a budget that is fairly strict and you will have a can’t miss payment to the Trustee each month.  It will be important that you budget your summer around that.

Which leads me to the third way to survive the summer while cash strapped:

PLAN. PLAN.  PLAN.

The easiest way to cut costs in your budget is eating in.  This is great news in the summer.  Fire up the grill!  Who doesn’t love to sit on the back porch and eat?  Get a warehouse store membership, buy your meat in bulk, and spend the summer on pinterest trying new marinade recipes.  This is probably one of my favorite things to do in the summer.  I have relatives that want us to eat out every Sunday.  No.  Neither my waistline or my budget wants that.  I would much rather grill every Sunday at half the cost and with the bonus of DELICIOUS leftovers for lunches for the week.  Do you know what is better than leftover bbq ribs on a monday at lunchtime?  Nothing.  Nothing is.

Vacation?  THIS IS NEW JERSEY!  We have everything right here.  No plane rides or hotels required.  You can go to the beach, Sandy Hook charges per car, not per person.  The mountains are north and at the Gap.  Want to go to a theme park, Dorney Park and Six Flags are both in driving distance.  Save those soda cans and use the coupon!  I think QuickCheck has coupons for Balloon Fest out already.  New Jersey has so much to offer so try exploring at home.

Entertaining the kids: We get it.  We are parents here too.  It is hard to not be able to give them everything.  We want to so badly.  That being said, both of our kids would love nothing more than to just ride bikes at the park.  It is old school but they can’t get enough.  Throw a baseball in the yard or take the kids down to the river and go fishing.  Give your kids the gift of your time.  I love to garden with my son.  He is small so he mostly just plays with the dirt, but he is so happy about it and we get the bonus of inexpensive produce for the summer that we grew ourselves.  He also really enjoys being pulled around in his wagon at the local park and playing on the swings.  Both of those things are FREE.  I know that we live in an age where we think our kids need constant stimulation, but believe me when I say that sometimes a back to basics approach is both incredibly effective and inexpensive.  No 400 buck tablet required.

You will get through this.  You will be better on the other side of your bankruptcy filing.  Trust the process.  Trust yourself.  Know that the trip to Disney World can wait and it will be so much sweeter with this in your rear view mirror.

 

Want to talk to us about your financial situation.  Give me a call at 732-302-9600 or fill our our online consultation form and we will call you!

So you have sat down and figured out what the status of your financial existence is.  GREAT!  Now we know where you are starting but where are you going?  Every point A needs to have a point B.

So step 2:  Set a Goal

What is your goal?  What are you working towards?

I like small goals first in a first timer situation.  This goal should be two things:  1)Specific; and 2) Shorter in Time Frame.

An Example:

Goal 1 – I want to save a million dollars for retirement in 30 years.  BAD FIRST GOAL

Goal 2 – I want to save at least $25.00 per paycheck for retirement for the next three months.  GREAT FIRST GOAL.

Your goal doesn’t have to be something as major as saving for retirement.  My personal favorite is to stay on budget for two weeks.  Just two weeks.  You will be shocked at how difficult this goal can be for a first timer.  This goal does two things, doesn’t set you up for failure and gives you a good idea of any nasty habits you may have that need broken.  Which will segway you into  my other favorite goal is kicking a habit.  Give yourself two weeks to either kick a habit or come up with a suitable substitution/accommodation.

A great example from my own existence.  When I did my two week budget challenge (and during the bank account review),  I realized I spend too much at Starbucks. So I look for a solution that still lets me have my fancy caffeine fix. I downloaded the app on my phone, loaded a gift card with 20 bucks and said to myself, this is how much I am allowed to spend at Starbucks for the two week period.  When I run out I am cut off.  I will not feed the beast.  Lo and Behold, I was out after a week because I was still going too much (and buying cookies…bad for the budget and the waistline…ugh…).  So a new plan on the second two week round, I bought a private stash of fun K Cups, stashed in my desk (10 bucks on amazon about once a month) and cut my budget for Starbucks back to 15 bucks.  Tried again in the next two weeks and STAYED ON BUDGET.  These little tweeks needed to make your goal can only be made if you are giving yourself a small goal that is short in duration to start out with.

Once you have achieved a smaller goal, build on that progress.  If your goal was to stay on budget two weeks, maybe next time make it three weeks, than a month, than three months.  Before you know it what was once a goal will just be something you do instinctively.

On setting more than one goal:

If you can handle it do it, if you are still working on your first goal and struggling DON’T.

If you want to manage multiple goals, I like goals that work to achieve the same end.  So let’s say you are like me and you need to drop a few pounds and do a better job of staying on budget.  This works together nicely.  I put myself on a more liberal grocery budget and a very strict eating out budget.  This will help me curb that spending we all do on fast food which is good for my waistline and my wallet.  These goals are ultimately working to the same end.  This makes it twice as nice when you achieve the goal (plus think of all the money you will save for new jeans!)

Which leads me to my next topic for next time:  Creating and Following A Budget!

 

Think you need bankruptcy advice to get to your goal.  Give us a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out

our online consultation form and we will call you!

 

 

 

New Jersey Bankruptcy Attorney Bruce Truesdale First Consultation Prepare

Preparing For Your First Bankruptcy Consultation

By: Bruce C. Truesdale

Talking to a bankruptcy attorney for the first time can be scary.

Really scary.

And it is scary for good reason.  Many of the people I meet with have never met with a lawyer in their life.  You are opening up to a strange and actually facing your financial troubles, which is no easy thing to do.  This is tough stuff.

So let’s say you have talked to me on the phone.  You have made an appointment and I have sent you the documents to gather list.

A couple of things I want you to bear in mind when you come in:

1.  It is ok to cry.

We go through a lot of Kleenex in our office.  I tell my clients all the time they won’t be the first to cry and they won’t be the last.  If you are up for it I will even crack a joke about how our firm should really buy stock in Kleenex tissues.  Don’t worry about spending half the appointment crying and don’t feel like you have to apologize for crying or being upset.  This is hard, we get it, we see it all the time.  It is ok to be upset.  Plus, I buy the Kleenex with the lotion in them so if you cry a lot your nose won’t get puffy.  It will be our little secret.

2. You don’t have to have it totally together at our first meeting.

Many of our clients think that they have to bring every single document on the what to bring list to the first appointment.  They will call my office and say they need to cancel because they don’t have all of the documentation.

Don’t do that.  Come anyway.  We can get the rest of your documentation later.  Assuming that your case is not an emergency filing to stop a car from being re-possessed or a sheriff sale we can take our time putting your case together.   We can always come back later and get the rest of the documents.  You can scan them and email them, fax them, send them pony-express.  We will get your documentation together and your case will get filed.  It does not have to be perfect at our first meeting.  No need to get too worked up about documents at this point.

3. We are going to spend some time with you.  

If you are coming in to retain and do a worksheet my staff is going to spend at least an hour with you.  We are going to go over all of your documents, personal finance information, property, all of it.  It can feel a bit intrusive.  Myself and my associate try to keep the mood light while still taking your concerns and emotions seriously (my associate, Sarah, is particularly good at getting people through the worksheet smiling).  Our goal is to have you leave the appointment feeling better but doing so takes time so plan on being with us for an hour.

4.  Bring questions.

One of the things my associate will tell you on the phone when she speaks with you the first time and schedules your appointment is to get a piece of paper out and write down every question you think of about your bankruptcy filing between that phone consult and your first appointment.   Bring that piece of paper with you to your first appointment.

Why you ask?

Because she likes to joke that there is a memory wiper over our office door and the 25 questions you had as your were driving over to our office will be wiped from your memory as soon as you walk through the door.  Now, if you made yourself a nice list of questions on a piece of notebook paper, your cell phone, ipad, tablet, or a fast food napkin (this has happened and worked just fine) than the memory wiper is no trouble at all and we can go right down your list of questions easily without forgetting a thing.

 

Have more questions about how to get ready for your bankruptcy consultation?  Just give us a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out our online bankruptcy consultation form and we will be happy to talk to you!

My Least Favorite Bankruptcy Myth Ever.

by Sarah J. Crouch, Esq.

Bruce Truesdale new jersey bankruptcy myths

This popped up on my facebook feed the other day…and caused me to fly into a rage.  An absolute screaming, howling, righteous, my husband thinks I am a nutcase rage.

You may think: This seems innocuous enough.  I have no idea why you are so angry about this.  It seems basic.  Don’t spend on frivolous items and you won’t end up in debt right?

Wrong.

If I took a highly unscientific sampling of my clients I can tell you with much certainty that nearly zero of my clients were out buying Ipads and Jimmy Choos.   They were buying groceries, gas, medicine, or paying for emergency repairs on the car or the house.

This means that people with high credit card debt may have just been trying to get by and this “meme” misinforms the public to believe that these people have debt because they were out making frivolous purchases.

And this presumption is why people feel badly when they come into my office the first time to talk about bankruptcy.  They feel like they are deadbeats that aren’t paying their bills.  They feel a moral obligation to pay for purchases they have made even though the bulk of them were likely emergency purchases.  These people feel badly about this.  Terrible.  And the social norm that assumes they were out spending the money they didn’t have on Ipads is why they feel extra bad.  They will never speak of this.  They don’t want emails about this going to their personal email.  I have had clients literally get PO boxes so the mail carrier wouldn’t know ( I could honestly care less what my mail carrier thinks of me…)

It is amazing.

And all because they are using a financial tool that Congress made available to them to get out of debt that was not their fault.  Something happened.  They got sick, they lost a job, they had a family emergency, they got divorced.  There is no reason to feel badly for pursuing all your options and make a call that is best for you, not for your mail carrier.

There are many many reasons that people file bankruptcy and get into debt.   I have been doing this for awhile now….and Jimmy Choos and Ipads are not among the reasons I have ever heard.

 

A question our office has been getting a lot lately is “Can I even file bankruptcy anymore?”

This is because in 2005 the bankruptcy code was changed in order to make it more difficult to file a bankruptcy.  Now you have to qualify to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and a Chapter 13 payment is not quite so easily calculated as before.   The end result is that it is not more difficult to qualify for a bankruptcy case but it is more difficult to prepare one and most consumers will need an attorney to prepare their case these days rather than going it alone (something we would never recommend to our clients EVER).

But worry not.  We are here to help!

For information on the Chapters of bankruptcy available to you, check out our video explaining how to qualify.

We have articles on what will happen to your house or your car if you file a bankruptcy and how a bankruptcy is better than a debt settlement plan.

Most importantly, you can call us at 732-302-9600 or fill our our online consultation form and we will give you advice specific to your circumstances and be happy to go over any questions you may have about how to get your financial house back in order.

New Jersey Bankruptcy Sarah J. Crouch continues our video series of frequently asked questions today with a video explaining the differences between Chapter 7 & Chapter 13 bankruptcy and why they might be the right option for you.

Interested in how bankruptcy can help you out of your financial situation.  Give us a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out our online consultation form and we will contact you.