Bankruptcy Court

Bankruptcy Court


If you are planning to file for bankruptcy then you will indeed be making a trip to court. The U.S. Bankruptcy court is a federal court and deals with all aspects of bankruptcy law. Each of the 94 judicial districts handles bankruptcy matters.

Each bankruptcy court houses a bankruptcy judge who is appointed to 14 years by the U.S. court of appeals. Though rare on occasion, regular district courts can hear and try bankruptcy cases on the courts discression.

Your first visit to court will most likely be brief. You will not be seeing a judge on your first visit, but instead a trustee of the court who will ask you questions regarding you financial status and history.

Questions will fall along the lines of where you live, what property you own, list of assets and liabilities and if you have any pending lawsuits against another person.

You will also be asked if you expect to inherit cash from a relative or other source. No creditors will be in attendance during your chapter 7 hearing and your lawyer will be with you the whole time.

For Chapter 13 hearings it will be the same basically. You will endure the same questioning in addition to questions regarding your repayment plans.

After sixty to ninety days you will be returning to court to finish the discharge order. It is very important though that you show up and are on time.

The court may see you in contempt and discharge your bankruptcy case unless your attorney successfully files a continuance. Then you will most likely have to pay your attorney an extra filing fee on top of everything else. Read more...

Bankruptcy Filing

When To File For Bankruptcy

Nobody wants to make the decision of when to file for bankruptcy, but at some point it may come up. Bankruptcy has a bad effect on your credit amongst other ramifications.

Filing bankruptcy should only be a last resort when all other options have failed you. But when should you consider filing for bankruptcy?

You find yourself constantly borrowing from one source of credit to pay off another. You have begun taking cash advances greater than $500 to pay for living expenses.

You borrow to meet regular expenses like food and utility bills. You have stopped answering your phone because the only calls you receive now are from creditors.

Creditors are threatening to sue you, or a suite has already been started against you. These are signs that you are indeed in some serious trouble. These are signs that you may want to consider filing for bankruptcy.

Then it comes to the decision of what sort of bankruptcy you need to file for. The most common are chapter 7 and chapter 13. Chapter 7 has the advantage is wiping the slate clean and setting you on a fresh start immediately. Chapter 13, you will be making payments for three to five years.

But, as stated before, you should only consider filing for bankruptcy when you have exhausted all other avenues. There are many various alternatives out there to be considered, but if none are practical for your situation, then speak with a professional bankruptcy lawyer to learn what the next step it.
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