Frequently Asked Questions

To file a bankruptcy, there are two costs that you need to be aware of:

1. Attorney Fee
2. Court Filing Fee

Attorney Fee

Chapter 7: At our law firm, we charge a flat fee of $999 for all Chapter 7 Bankruptcies.
Chapter 13: We charge an initial retainer of $500-$999, depending on the complexity of the case, plus an hourly rate thereafter. However, our total fee will be worked into your Chapter 13 payment, so the Chapter 13 trustee would pay us directly, rather than yourself.

Filing Fee

For a Chapter 7, the Court has a filing fee of $338. This can either be paid in full at the time your case is filed, or else you can have this paid in 4 installments of $84.50, due 30days, 60days, 90days and 120days after your case is filed.

For a Chapter 13, the Court has a filing fee of $313. This can be either paid in full at the time your case is filed, or else you can have your filing fee included in your monthly Ch 13 Plan Payment to your trustee.

Chapter 7

To qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your income needs to be under the Means Test. Essentially what this means is that your household’s average monthly gross income needs to be under a certain threshold, depending on your household size. To determine whether or not you qualify, verify whether your annual income is below the number below, based on your household size.

Household 1: $53,815
Household 2: $67,015
Household 3: $80,465
Household 4: $99,179
Household 5: $108,179

Chapter 7

Generally, in a Ch 7 bankruptcy you will not have to give up any assets. I say “generally” because that is the case in 95% of our case filings. You will only need to give up assets if you do not have enough exemptions to cover them. Also, you would have the option to pay the trustee the amount equivalent to the asset that would be otherwise turned over. As long as during your initial consultation you are open and honest with us, we can run through your exemptions with you and verify whether or not all of your assets would be protected.

Chapter 13

In a Ch 13 bankruptcy you would only give up assets if you want to. This is because of something called the Liquidation Analysis which would allow you to pay your trustee in monthly installments the amount equivalent to the assets that would otherwise be given up.

Every office handles cases differently, but here is how we handle cases in our office:

1. Initial (Free) Consultation – We start by having you come into the office where we review the questionnaire you complete for us, then we run through your situation to help you determine whether you should file for bankruptcy, and then we discuss what you should expect.
2. Provide Us Documents – To file your case, we will need documents such as pay-stubs, tax-returns, vehicles titles, real estate documents, bank statements and retirement statements.
3. Online Course – Before your case can be filed you will need to complete an online course. This tax approximately 1 hour, and we pay the registration fee for this.
4. Follow-up Meeting to Review, Sign & File – We will be taking the questionnaire you completed for us, our notes from our initial consultation and the documents you provided to draft your bankruptcy petition and supporting documents. This is about 75-100 pages. At this meeting we will be reviewing these documents for accuracy, and then signing them and filing them with the Court.
5. Hearing – At this hearing you will need to make sure you bring your drivers license and social security card. This hearing lasts between 5-15 minutes, and the main purpose is for the Trustee to ask you questions to confirm that the information in your Court Filing is true and correct.
6.  Second Course – Much like the first course, you will need to take a second. This is also online, we pay the fee, and it should take approximately 2 hours.
7. Discharge – As long as you completed all of the steps above, you should get your bankruptcy discharge 3-5 months after filing of the case.

A bankruptcy, on average, takes 3-5 months. However, in some circumstances it may take longer. Here is a general time-line:

• Initial Consultation – This is Day 1.
• File Case – The day the case is filed is up to you. This can be the day after your consultation, or months later.
• Hearing – This is typically 30-45 days after the case is filed.
• Discharge – This is typically 2-3 months after the hearing.

The exact documents vary case to case, but generally speaking these are the documents we will need:

• Pay Stubs for the last 7 Months (Spouse too, if married)
• Tax Returns for the last 2 Years (State & Federal)
• Bank Statements for the last 90 days.
• Recent statements for any Investment Accounts (401k, 403b, IRA, pension, stocks, bonds, etc.)
• Automobile, Motorcycle, Boat & Trailer Titles – if applicable
• Automobile Lease – if applicable
• Residential Lease – if applicable
• Recorded Mortgage – if you own your home
• Recorded Deed – if you own your home
• Recent Property Tax Bill – if you own your home
• Divorce Judgment (if divorce ordered within the past 8 years)
• Child Support Orders – if applicable

The hearing, commonly known as the 341-Hearing or Meeting of Creditors, is the Trustee’s opportunity to ask you questions to confirm that the information contained in your bankruptcy paperwork is accurate and complete.  The hearing takes 5-15 minutes, and although technically Creditors can appear, they do so in less than 5% of the case. Typically questions asked are:

• Did you read the paperwork before you signed it?
• Did you list all of your assets?
• Did you list all of your creditors?
• Have you paid back any family member in the past year?
• Have you transferred any property to any family members in the past 2 years?
• Have you sold any vehicle or home in the past 2 years?
• Does anyone owe you money?
• Is there anyone that you can sue for any reason?