File Bankruptcy Without a Lawyer – a Worthwhile Saving?
Many people are still reeling from the economic downturn and are wondering whether to file bankruptcy, and whether to file bankruptcy without a lawyer, seeing this as yet more expense.
I am the first to admit that lawyers can charge a small fortune, but with the complexities of bankruptcy law and the need to get it right, I would suggest that a lawyer is essential.
A lawyer will help guide you through the process and make sure you get the best deal possible.
Filing for bankruptcy will usually leave you debt free and asset poor, as in chapter 7 bankruptcy, or again leave you debt free, but after the completion of a repayment plan over 3-5 years.
Before determining what chapter one should file bankruptcy under, the BAPCPA bought in a compulsory means test in 2005, intended to weed out those who could afford to repay in full, and force them into a chapter 13 filing.
The means test is just one example of how important a lawyer’s guiding hand can be.
You need to find a mid-sized law firm so that you always deal direct with your lawyer, not a paralegal, common in large firms. This is because your relationship with your lawyer is of the utmost importance, and there should be a free flow of questions and answers between the two of you.
Also, try and find a lawyer who charges a flat fee, rather than an hourly rate. If you are filing under chapter 7, fees must be paid upfront as a lawyer cannot be your creditor. A chapter 13 case is different in that the fee can be paid through the repayment plan.
Another area where a lawyer is important is at the “341 Meeting” or “Meeting of Creditors”. This meeting is called just after filing for bankruptcy.
You will need to provide the meeting with documented statements regarding amounts owed and to whom, as well as your own financial details.
At the Meeting of Creditors, you are asked questions under oath, your financial details inspected and which chapter you should file under. It’s complicated and a lawyer should be with you to advise.
A lawyer is also able to give you sundry advice on less obvious things. For example you should not use a credit card for anything at all once bankruptcy is filed, as you are effectively spending money you know you cannot repay.
A lawyer is a very important component in the bankruptcy process.
This is onlyone aspect of declaring yourself bankrupt. For further free information on different aspects of bankruptcy, visit www.decalringyourselfbankrupt.org. Don’t reprint this exact article. Instead, reprint a free unique content version of this same article.
iMoneyCoach.com Releases New Book Teaching That Money is the Smallest Part of Your Finances
A money coach such an important piece in your financial life. Period. Financial coaching is a process of looking at your financial life through long term thinking, where you not only create a budget, but you approach financial decisions in so that you do not get back into the same financial predicament you were in before.
Maggie Davis from Colorado says “If we had never come in for coaching we would have just been living under the same roof, and not best friends. We talk more now than we did when we first got married”
What is a Money Coach and why is it successful? It is a long-term process of goal setting, training, and encouragement to help you take focused action to achieve your goals. It is a system of Money Coaching consisting of a series of courses and meetings with a Financial Life Coach designed to help you get out of debt, maintain a debt-free lifestyle, and arrive at a place of satisfaction and joy where you can say, “I love my life!” You may think that you have done everything possible to put your finances into good working order but find yourself in situations where the finances simply are not working, and you have no idea why.
Take for example this story: In spite of their double income, Matt and Sandra are accruing around $15,000 of credit card debt a year and neither can really explain where the money went. They manage the growing burden by transferring balances and refinancing, but they are frustrated at finding themselves in the same cycle year after year. Sandra has read many of the popular books in an effort to budget better and teach her children good spending habits, but in the end, she always found the advice impossible to implement.
No matter how many trendy new systems and ideas she committed herself to, no change ever occurred. (Sandra) “I made every attempt to follow the programs and exercises in the books, but because I wasn’t accountable to anyone, after a few weeks of just gritting my teeth with the effort, I would automatically fall back into the same habits.” Since everyone around them seemed to be in the same boat, Matt and Sandra didn’t consider their situation dire. It certainly wouldn’t have occurred to them to seek out financial help or advice. Particularly not to Matt who grew up financially privileged and has become a successful businessman. He definitely wasn’t going to listen to anyone tell him how to care for his own family or what to do with his own money. They figured they were fine.
A number of us have never questioned the way we operate. We do the best we can, repeat the patterns we have learned, and scrape by. Some of us think that there must be some financial secret that we are missing, a new budgeting or moneymaking strategy that we have yet to read about. When we do have time to deal with it, we will buy the workbook and get on track. But deep down, we know that is not going to work. We all need a system that will actually produce lasting results, and more importantly this system needs to be an easy to follow part of our lives so that we integrate it into our lifestyle without feeling like it’s laborious.
Brad Hawkins has been in the field of Denver Financial Counseling for a long time and maintains a website about Denver Christian debt help where you can get answers to the rest of your questions and and receive your Free copy of the 1st Chapter of his new book.
How to Save Your Finances and Your Credit in 2009
As we begin 2009, the U.S. economy is in ruins. It has become, as a result, increasingly more important to protect your assets, as well as your identity. In order to make 2009 a better year for your money in these harsh economic times, here are some ideas and suggestions to get your financial health in line.
1. Separate Needs from Wants. Financial security and independence relies heavily on being a smart spender. Don’t, for example, eat out when you can cook at home. Eating is a need but eating out is a want. Being thrifty is truly a necessity. Pay close attention to discounts for things you need, and clip coupons whenever possible.
2. Have a cash stash that is equal to approximately 6 months of living expenses. Average out your utilities, food and other expenses and save some for a rainy day. Put a little back each payday in an account that you cannot touch or dig into. This is your emergency fund and shouldnt be touched unless it is absolutely necessary. If you DO dig into the fund, that money needs to be replaced as soon as possible.
3. Begin paying off your debt. Start with the highest interest bearing loans, like personal loans and credit cards and begin paying them off. These you should take care of BEFORE you begin saving any money. The interest accrued on these loans can be staggering over time and will save you money in the long run if you pay them off first.
4. Protect your Identity. Identity theft has become the crime of choice in recent years. It costs victims on estimated 6 billion dollars a year to pay for identity theft. You can protect your money and your identity with a service like Life Lock. Life Lock is a service that guarantees protection of your credit backed by $1,000,000 to you if they don’t. They help to reduce the amount of credit card offers you receive and pro-actively monitor your credit.
5. To keep you from dipping into your savings unnecessarily, put extra money into CDs, money market accounts, or other securities that are harder to access. That way, you won’t be tempted to spend all that hard saved money.
6. Get on a budget and stay on it no matter what. This is really simple to do. Label some jars or boxes with things like “savings” “eating out” or “entertainment”. Every payday, put $50 in each jar. That will be your allowance for that category until the next payday. When ever the money from one of the jars is used, you simply move to the next jar until you reach the next payday and can replenish. This sounds tough but it can pay off, literally.
The current world economy is in bad shape. That is no big, sensitive secret. As a result, we have already seen government bailouts of major companies we thought would always be there. Dont let that happen to you in 2009. Follow a simple budget, look for deals and just spend smarter.
If you are careful with your money, you will not require a bailout in 2009. Hey, maybe we can become the example and teach the major corporation CEOs how to do this.
Linda Seamore is an expert on the subject of personal finance and has written numerous articles on it and on credit protection programs like LifeLock. She suggests researching all credit protection programs like www.lifelock.com before signing up.