Making the decision to actually call or email a bankruptcy lawyer can be traumatic. If you are like many of our clients, the idea of filing bankruptcy may have never crossed your mind. But now you find yourself in an impossible position – bills rolling in like waves while your cash reserves are dwindling and your credit cards charged to the max.
If you do nothing the debt collection system will tear you apart. You’ll be sued, see your wages garnished, your car repossessed and your home foreclosed. And with late payment penalties and high interest rates, you’ll lose everything and still owe thousands.
Any peace of mind you had will be crushed by a barrage of collection phone calls and demand letters.
Is a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy the answer to your debt problems? In some cases, yes and in other cases, maybe not. But you won’t be able to make an intelligent, educated decision until you contact a thoughtful and knowledgeable bankruptcy lawyer.
Obviously, Jonathan and Susan of Ginsberg Law Offices hope that you will call us, but even if you choose another firm, don’t wait until after your wages have been seized or your car repossessed. Every day you wait causes your situation to deteriorate.
At Ginsberg Law Offices, we offer struggling consumers two lifelines:
If you choose the overview option, we’ll ask you to fill out our “two page worksheet.” This will take you about 5 minutes and it will give us enough information to offer general guidance and to decide if it makes sense to proceed.
If you chose the thorough review option, we’ll ask you to gather everything we need to prepare and complete a bankruptcy petition. This is the best option if you have done your homework and know that bankruptcy is likely your best option and you want to move forward as quickly as possible. Here’s what you will need
Regardless of the option you choose, we do ask that you bring an open mind and set no preconditions to our meeting. Our goal is to improve the lives of each and every one of our bankruptcy clients by eliminating debt and helping our clients recognize the warning signs of unmanageable debt.
If you have decided that it is time to file bankruptcy you will need more than your checkbook when you meet with your lawyer. Here’s what you will need:
- a credit counseling certificate – this document certifies that you have completed a mandatory credit counseling course. Click here to find out more.
- six month’s worth of “payment advices” – this will allow your lawyer to perform a bankruptcy means test analysis. Click here for the Ginsberg Law intake packet
- a current household budget – since you are filing bankruptcy, your creditors and bankruptcy trustee need to know how much is coming in and how you spend your money. A household budget organizer is part of our intake worksheet
- copies of credit reports from the three credit bureaus. We want to be thorough and list all of your creditors. You can download credit reports for free at AnnualCreditReport.com.
- your 2019 federal income tax return – we have to submit your tax return to the bankruptcy trustee to verify some of the disclosures on your bankruptcy petition