Managing personal finances in our world today is not always an easy proposition. With the state of the national economy, a secure job could very easily turn into an insecure position, followed very shortly by no position at all. A loss of job in this way, quickly and often without warning, leads many individuals and households to financial crisis.
A sudden injury or illness could turn your life upside down in a hurry. Imagine if you or someone in your household needed extensive medical treatment. The amount of money needed to pay outlandish medical bills could cripple you beyond repair.
For these and many other reasons, bankruptcy might be the only relief you will be able to find so that you can get back on your feet and live again. Finding a chapter 13 attorney to assist you in your bankruptcy process is the beginning of your journey. A good bankruptcy lawyer will walk you step by step through the process, guiding you every step of the way as you put together all of your finances as they are presently and how they got that way.
There were a total of 936,795 bankruptcy cases filed in the United States in 2014. Two out of every three people who filed for bankruptcy in 2014 had recently lost their jobs. That’s how devastating job loss can be. But job loss is not the only reason for bankruptcy. The other third of filings ranged from sudden tragedy from illness or death, to any number of financial devastations.
The bankruptcy process is not an easy one for people who do not specialize in bankruptcy law. A good bankruptcy lawyer whose focus is on bankruptcy alone can help you figure out which are debts that can be taken care of with bankruptcy and which chapter you will be able to file.
An experienced bankruptcy attorney will help you figure out if you will need to file chapter 13 bankruptcy or the chapter 7 variety. As of 2014, the filing fees for filing for bankruptcy remained relatively low. For chapter 7, the filing fee was $335, while chapter 13 cost $310 to file. This is, of course, in addition to what your chapter 13 attorney or chapter 7 specialist will charge you to complete the process. Some law firms will allow you to make payments on the fees as you are gathering up the necessary information to file. It might take you some time to raise the money for the lawyer’s fees and file costs, but if you use that time to learn all you can about how to live a debt free life once you’re done, then you can really set a solid financial foundation for yourself and your family going forward.
A quality chapter 13 attorney who sits down with you and really goes through the process, explains each step and leads you all the way to completion can really be one of the most crucial people you might ever know in your adult life. No one wants to file bankruptcy. Sometimes there simply is no other option. Bankruptcy law is in place for a reason. A good lawyer will help you make sense of what might seem senseless.