1st Step: Gather all of your information

When you make an appointment with a Modesto bankruptcy lawyer at the law office of Ben Roberts, you don’t need to bring everything. However, once the bankruptcy process starts, you will have to gather some information including your pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns as well as fill out a few questionnaires. You will also have to take two very easy financial classes online. Once you have gathered all of your information, most of your work is done.

2nd Step-Filing for Bankruptcy-Modesto Lawyers

Your bankruptcy attorney will file a petition for you that will list all of your property and debts. It is extremely important to disclose everything you own and owe, so that your Modesto bankruptcy lawyer can properly exempt your assets. Bankruptcy law requires that you disclose everything you own and everything you owe, under penalty of perjury. Once your petition is ready to be filed your lawyer will ask that you review it to make sure it is accurate. During your bankruptcy hearing the trustee will ask if you reviewed the petition, if it is accurate and if you need to make any changes to it.

3rd Step-The Meeting of Creditors-Lawyers Bankruptcy in Modesto

About a month after your bankruptcy petition is filed, you must attend a meeting with the trustee. If there was a joint bankruptcy filing, then both spouses must appear. Creditors are allowed to appear and object at the meeting, however, it’s rare that creditors show up. If an objection is raised during the hearing the judge will later make a ruling on it. It’s important to note that the trustee is not a bankruptcy judge. In fact, in a chapter 7 bankruptcy, the debtor rarely ever sees a judge. Besides this hearing, all you are required to complete is your second financial class online referred to as the “debtor education.” Those are usually the only two things you must do post bankruptcy filing to get your discharge.

4th Step: If you filed a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

If you are filing a chapter 13 then your attorney will have a repayment plan, detailing how much money you will be repaying every month toward your creditors. The bankruptcy plan takes into consideration all of your income less all of your expenses including food, gas, groceries, mortgage, etc. What you have left is disposable income which is the amount that will be distributed to your unsecured creditors. That is the amount you will be paying over the next 3 to 5 years.

5th Step-Bankruptcy Judge Approval-Modesto Attorney

A judge will have to approve your chapter 13 plan in order for it to go into effect. As long as the judge accepts your plan and you make your payments on time, then any debt remaining at the end of 3 or 5 years is discharged forever. Of course, if you filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy, this step never applies.

Contact Modesto Bankruptcy Attorneys

Contact the Modesto Lawyers at the law office of Ben Roberts today at 522 7500.