It’s very easy to feel contempt for people who declare bankruptcy, but that feeling disappears when filing for it becomes a possibility. Certain life events can make personal bankruptcy the only viable option available. No matter how you found yourself looking at bankruptcy as an option, continue reading so that you can learn how to move forward.
A huge mistake people make before filing for bankruptcy is maxing out their credit cards. This can lead to disaster when you file and the credit card companies might not discharge the debt. If you can, you need to stop using your credit cards at least six months before you file, and ideally for a year prior. Also, do your best to pay the minimum payments on these cards for at least six months before you file.
Before resorting to bankruptcy, contact your creditors in a good-faith effort to renegotiate your payment terms, or interest rate. If you get in touch with them early enough, they may be willing to waive fees or negotiate a new payment schedule. If they are it means they are more likely to receive the money that you owe.
Decide whether you want to file for Chapter 7, or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. As an individual, you may do either one. Find out as much as you can about each type of bankruptcy, so you are able to make a choice that you can live with in the future.
Find out the real reason you are filing for bankruptcy. What happened in your life that brought you to this place? What do you need to do to make sure that you can move on? What actions do you need to take before you can be sure that this will never happen again?
Personal bankruptcy should be a last resort if you’re in insolvency. This is due to the fact that it will take years for the bankruptcy to work off your credit report and new law changes make it harder to escape paying the debts off. In other words, you could have bankruptcy on your credit report and still be paying off several of your debts.
Before you decide to file for bankruptcy, be sure to obtain a free consultation with a bankruptcy attorney. Depending on where you live, you have the right to speak to an attorney before filing. Any good attorney will offer a first appointment free. This is an important consultation, as you will need the answers to many questions. These may include: attorney fees, what type of bankruptcy to file, and what types of information, paperwork you will need to provide. Most importantly, an attorney will be able to determine if filing for bankruptcy is the right decision for you.
Check into less drastic solutions prior to declaring bankruptcy. For example, if you only have a little bit of debt, you might be better off if you went through consumer credit counseling. Negotiating with creditors is another option, but creditors are notorious for “forgetting” these agreements, so get them in writing!
Filing for bankruptcy does not wipe out all of your debts. It does not stop you from having to pay alimony, child support, student loans, tax debt and most types of secured credit. You will not be allowed to file if these are the only types of debt that you have on record.
Be sure to consider all of your options before filing for personal bankruptcy, as there may be some you haven’t considered. If you have a job that has slowed down due to the recession, such as construction, you may need to find a new job. This could help your situation until the economy picks back up.
After you have finished with the initial process of filing, you can relax and take a breather. It can be several months between the initial filing and the final discharge of debts. This kind of stress can take a heavy toll on your personal life, especially if you are not making any efforts to adopt a positive attitude. Life will get better; you just need to make it through the bankruptcy process.
Explore all of the options available to you before you file for bankruptcy. Filling for bankruptcy can have some serious future implications. For instance, getting a mortgage application approved when you have previously been bankrupt will be tough to say the least. Therefore, you should thoroughly investigate all of the alternatives to bankruptcy. Perhaps you could borrow money from a family member or consolidate some of your debts.
After you’ve exhausted every other option, you might determine that bankruptcy is the only way out of your debt crisis. No matter how you arrived at this place, there is help available to reduce the stress you are under. Although the bankruptcy process can last several months, you will be less stressed out if you understand everything that is happening.
