In 2021, the country saw about 434,520 bankruptcy filings, a sharp decline from last year’s 612,561. Both individuals and businesses can file for bankruptcy when their cash reserves run low or are virtually nonexistent. In doing so, they can protect their assets from creditors’ foreclosing or creditors repossessing their assets.
Individuals or businesses looking to file for bankruptcy have the right to hire a bankruptcy attorney. They will be able to obtain legal advice and assistance in filing for bankruptcy as a result of doing so. Of course, you can always choose to go it alone, but it’s something we wouldn’t recommend.
If you’re still on the fence about hiring a bankruptcy attorney, we’re here to show you why you should. Today, we’ll be highlighting a couple of reasons why hiring a bankruptcy lawyer works best.
1. They Can Give A Better Alternative To Bankruptcy
Declaring bankruptcy is usually a last resort for both businesses and individuals. However, filing for bankruptcy doesn’t have to be your only option. You can talk to a lawyer and maybe come up with a better alternative to filing for bankruptcy.
For instance, an attorney can help you negotiate with your creditors. Alternatively, they can help you get assistance from a credit counseling agency.
2. An Attorney Helps You Decide What Type Of Bankruptcy To File
Bankruptcy boils down into three main types, namely, Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Each has its own purpose and accomplishes different things. It’s easy to mistake one of the bankruptcy types for another, and doing so may work to your detriment.
To be on the safe side, consider hiring a bankruptcy attorney to help guide you through the different types of bankruptcy. A good attorney will pick the best type of bankruptcy to file for your specific situation.
3. They’re Already Familiar With The Process
Bankruptcy attorneys have probably handled several other bankruptcy cases before. As such, they know how to navigate the convoluted legal space to file your bankruptcy successfully.
By hiring a bankruptcy lawyer, you eliminate the chances of missing deadlines, filing the wrong information, or forgetting important documents. The attorney’s familiarity with the entire process will be imperative in helping your bankruptcy application sail through. The right attorney will save you the hassle of going through multiple offices and filling in tons of paperwork.
4. They’ll Handle Your Creditors
Creditors are a pesky bunch, especially if you’re running behind on a few payments. All the constant nagging and phone calls can get to you. If you want peace of mind when dealing with creditors, consider hiring a bankruptcy attorney.
Bankruptcy attorneys will deal with the creditors one-on-one, saving you time and frustration. After hiring a lawyer, creditors will have to go through your lawyer to discuss anything about your debt. You can heave a sigh of relief and focus on filing for bankruptcy.
5. They’ll Save You Money
Most people think that hiring a lawyer equals paying a bundle in legal fees. While it’s true that you’ll have to pay your lawyer, you’ll save a lot more by not hiring one. In fact, the right lawyer can secure a good deal with your creditors and maybe even reduce your debt.
Plus, a good lawyer will fast-track your bankruptcy filing so you don’t have to spend so much on the process. The lawyer will also help you sidestep costly mistakes that could further dent your finances. All in all, although you’ll have to pay the lawyer, you’ll save much more than what you pay for legal help.
6. Attorneys Offer Solid Advice On The Entire Process
Anyone filing for bankruptcy knows it isn’t the most pleasant experience, but it’s something they have to do. People file for bankruptcy when they don’t have enough to pay their creditors. However, one wrong move when filing for bankruptcy can slip them further into more debt.
Attorneys will give you proper advice on how to deal with your bankruptcy. This is both in the legal and financial sense. This advice will go a long way towards ensuring the filing process is seamless.
7. Increases Your Chances Of Success
Your chances of succeeding with your bankruptcy filing when you go it alone are pretty slim. With zero experience and no legal assistance, the chances of failure are astronomical.
However, by hiring a reputable bankruptcy attorney like OBryan Law Offices, your chances of success multiply tenfold. Lawyers have a few tricks up their sleeves to ensure you file your bankruptcy. Plus, they have deep networks that they can leverage to get your bankruptcy application through.
Sometimes it’s something as simple as the language they use to sway the court’s decision in your favor. Sometimes it’s because the lawyer has had experience with the judge and knows how to work with them. Either way, you’re better off hiring a lawyer than filing bankruptcy without one.
8. Attorneys Aren’t Fraudulent
You’ll only find a handful of unscrupulous lawyers willing to go through with bankruptcy fraud. However, reputable attorneys would never intentionally commit fraud and allow you to do so. That’s because bankruptcy fraud could land you in jail and exacerbate the situation.
It’s worth noting that filling in the wrong information when filing for bankruptcy could lead to fraud; it doesn’t matter whether you did so intentionally or unintentionally. This could land you in some serious trouble. A bankruptcy lawyer will make sure you don’t make any silly mistakes that could lead to jail time.
9. Attorneys Will Assess Your Financial Situation
Bankruptcy attorneys will conduct a comprehensive assessment of your current financial situation. They’ll help you figure out what expenses are hurting your finances. That way, they can help you conclusively establish whether filing for bankruptcy is a good idea.
Hire A Bankruptcy Attorney
Are you planning to file for bankruptcy soon? If you are, don’t forget to hire a skilled and experienced bankruptcy attorney to take you through the entire process and help you succeed. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t.
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I like that you pointed out how bankruptcy attorneys know how to navigate the convoluted legal space to file your bankruptcy successfully. I was listening to the news on the radio last night and it seems quite a few companies have filed for bankruptcy recently. Bankruptcy isn’t a situation anyone would want to be in and a lawyer would surely be an immense help if you ever got this kind of problem.