Bankruptcy Attorney: How To Find A Good One

A bankruptcy attorney is a legal professional who deals primarily with cases concerning clients with financial problems. There are subspecialties in this field of law some of which may be focused on business or corporate dealings while others are more focused on the individual or as legal aid to those who need it.

Requirements

The requirements for a professional to be able to practice this form of law is to actually have a degree in law. Undergraduates can actually start by focusing on this aspect of legalities as early as they want to while those who may have already graduated in law can have additional studies in this field. New or old graduates can take up additional studies pertaining to this field of the law. A bankruptcy attorney can specialize in subspecialties or actually concentrate on a larger field. Other requirements to practice in this field of law are to be a member of certain associations which may be concentrated on the financial side and to actually have follow-up examinations and seminars pertinent to this field. Lawyers usually have some additional studies and seminars to update their field. Some of them also belong to certain reputable establishments or associations that may be influential in the field of flaw.

Where to Look

A recommendation from friends and relatives who may have used the services of a bankruptcy attorney is one of the most ways of finding one. This is actually quite useful because the person who is recommending has actually used the services of the professional and should have achieved success with it. Of course, the prospective client should have some degree of trust in the person who is recommending. Word of mouth from acquaintances and people who have just not may not be reliable. It is also a good idea to initially do some research on the firm even if it is just on the internet. If this does not bring up information pertinent to one's purposes, getting information the old-fashioned way may be the way to do it.

Another place to look for a bankruptcy attorney is the internet. Most professionals advertise their achievements and their services via the World Wide Web. Although it may seem unreliable at first glance, some sites have reviews of the legal professional. Some also give their contact numbers and addresses as well as explain their field of expertise. It is important to note, though, that reputable legal offices have more streamlined sites and more professional looking ones as well. It is imperative that a discreet call be made to the office and some inquiries be made in person to be able to establish if it is a suitable firm for one's purposes or not. Asking the firm's secretary may yield biased answers but is can also yield enlightening ones as well.

Bankruptcy Attorney Provides Some "Do's" and "Do Nots" of Bankruptcy

Not all that long ago, a prospective client told me the kind of story that makes every bankruptcy attorney wince. Over the last several years she had borrowed a substantial amount of money with a home equity loan and used those funds to keep up on her credit card payments and other monthly bills.

I advised her that it is very rarely a good idea to incur secured debt, like a mortgage, in order to make payments on unsecured debts such as credit cards. Unsecured debts are generally dischargeable in bankruptcy whereas liens on property are not. In bankruptcy attorney lingo, liens are said to "ride through" bankruptcy. Aside from home mortgages, one of the most common other mistakes people considering bankruptcy make is borrowing from 401K plans to make payments on unsecured debts. The reason is the same. Like secured debts, the tax liability these people incur is generally not dischargeable in bankruptcy.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will say again that more people should discuss their situation with a bankruptcy attorney as soon as the prospect of serious financial difficulty becomes apparent. One of the most common indicators is borrowing from one lender in order to pay another. Most bankruptcy attorneys do not charge for an initial consultation and a lot can be learned from them in a short period of time. Also, the earlier you talk to one, generally the more that can be done to ensure you discharge as much of your debts as possible while keeping as much of your property as you can.

You never know, a simple piece of advice from a bankruptcy attorney like don't take draws on your home equity line in order to pay credit cards could wind up saving you many thousands of dollars.

Bankruptcy Attorney Explains the Effect of Delayed Foreclosures on Filing Bankruptcy - Part One

It's been an especially busy week in foreclosure news in Santa Clara County, California. I came across a very interesting article the other day in the San Jose Mercury News. The gist of the article was that many area homeowners are in default on their mortgages, but the lenders aren't foreclosing. Apparently they're concerned that real estate prices will decline precipitously if they foreclose on all these homes because a glut of supply will come onto the market. Moreover, these houses likely would remain vacant for an extended period of time and deteriorate from lack of maintenance.

So how does this affect people considering bankruptcy? Especially in light of California's two different systems of bankruptcy exemptions, it can be tricky, even for a bankruptcy attorney. That's why I'm going to break down this blog topic into parts. Each part will examine how this phenomenon affects a different kind of bankruptcy filer.

For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to call the system that closely resembles the federal one the "federal exemptions" and the other one the "California exemptions." Let's look at the first of several differently situated people to examine the possible effects.

Person 1 - Owns a house and has a substantial amount of equity in it.

This person will usually elect to use the California exemptions because they have a higher homestead exemption. Unfortunately, if this person simply saves the money that would have been spent on the mortgage and then files bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee will probably want to use all or nearly all the funds to pay off creditors. It's possible the cash could be used to purchase other assets that would be exempt or to pay off debts that would not be dischargeable through bankruptcy, such as student loans, child support, etc. Obviously, good planning and the involvement of a bankruptcy attorney is the key to maximizing the possible benefit.