Since 1977, Geraci Law has helped people file bankruptcy and get a fresh start with their finances. Our Lawrenceburg bankruptcy attorneys, with our entire staff, manage over one billion dollars of debt each year and have over 200,000 happy clients.
But don't just take it from us. We have over 30,000 5-star reviews from happy clients. You can read thousands of them on our reviews page.
We always offer free phone mini-consultations and initial attorney consultations. That way, you can get sound financial advice from an Lawrenceburg bankruptcy lawyer before making any decisions.
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When you file a Chapter 7 in Lawrenceburg, you submit a list of your debts and a list of your assets. Geraci Law only files a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Lawrenceburg when assets are exempt from creditors, and you can keep the assets. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition can be as few as fifty pages or over one-hundred pages, depending on your case. You sign a bankruptcy petition under the penalty of perjury, so we think it is a good idea to hire an attorney to go through all the bankruptcy forms to make sure you honestly and accurately file your bankruptcy petition in Federal Court.
For Chapter 13, you file a similar list of assets and debts, but instead of eliminating your debt, repay it. Besides filing a bankruptcy petition in Federal Court, you are also required to file a Chapter 13 debt repayment plan. Your Chapter 13 plan will dictate how much you pay creditors and for how long you will pay them, which can range from 36 to 60 months. Your monthly payment in Chapter 13 is based on your assets, income, and debts to repay your creditors.
Before you can file a bankruptcy, the Court requires you take a pre-filing credit-counseling course. The non-profit credit-counseling organization will go through your income, assets, and debts with you. The non-profit organization should be certified to issue credit-counseling certificates in Lawrenceburg. After you complete your credit-counseling course, you will receive a credit-counseling certificate. You must file the certificate with your bankruptcy case.
After you have completed your bankruptcy credit counseling course, signed your petition and plan if you file a Chapter 13, and pay a court filing fee, your case can be electronically filed with the Federal bankruptcy court.
After your attorney files your Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, the Clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Lawrenceburg sends notice that you appear at a "meeting of creditors" to testify about the petition you filed in Federal Court. The meeting of creditors is short and, if you hire an attorney, your attorney goes with you. During the meeting of creditors, any creditors that may want to ask you questions about your debt can do so. Typical questions are: "Do you have a car?", "What happened to the merchandise you bought?", and "How much is your house worth?" Most of the creditors’ questions are questions you already answered in your petition. The "meeting of creditors" is often very short and painless.
After your Meeting of Creditors, the creditors have 60 days to object to your discharge in bankruptcy. If you hired an attorney, your attorney may work on any "reaffirmation" agreements usually for secured debts that you wish to keep paying for after filing. A reaffirmation agreement is an agreement to allow a debt to survive the bankruptcy. Most people that file bankruptcy reaffirm on the homes and vehicles they intend to keep. The Bankruptcy Judge administering your case may issue a notice of a hearing on these "reaffirmations", at which time you will appear to state that you want to make these deals.
Federal bankruptcy laws require you to take a post-filing debtor education course. Everyone who files a bankruptcy in Lawrenceburg is required to take the course. The bankruptcy debtor education course is two hours, and you must complete the course after your bankruptcy case is filed. If you do not complete your second educational course, you will not receive a discharge. If you need to take your second bankruptcy education course, you can take the course online at https://www.pfged.com.
The Court will issue a "Discharge", which states that all dischargeable debts are gone. Of course, debts exempt from discharge will remain, such as certain taxes and student loans.
In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the first meeting of creditors is different than in Chapter 7. In Chapter 13, the purpose of the meeting of creditors is to examine your proposed repayment plan. After the meeting of creditors, the Bankruptcy Judge holds a hearing to approve or "confirm" your plan. Then, you simply make the payments and follow the plan guidelines until the plan is complete. When you complete your plan payments, your Chapter 13 trustee will audit your case to make sure all payments you make all the proper payments and that the trustee themselves properly disbursed your payments. In Chapter 13, you are still required to take a second debtor education course.
According to our research, many people attempt to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases themselves only to have their case dismissed, or not properly discharged. A Chapter 13 case can last up to five years and the court sets the attorney's fees for Lawrenceburg.
In 2018, we found that pro-se case filings had a 7 percent chance of success after 12 months. The next best lawyer’s office had a success rate that was 20% points lower than Geraci Law’s Chapter 13 success rate. Our statistics show that in Chapter 13, the quality of lawyer matters. So when you look for a lawyer in Lawrenceburg, make sure you find someone who has success in Chapter 13, like Geraci Law.
Geraci Law makes Chapter 13 filing easy for you. While there is a lot of work in figuring out what to do, preparing your petition, and dealing with your creditors, your attorney does almost all of it. All you have to do is show up and make your Chapter 13 payments in full and on time.
The closest Federal Bankruptcy Courts to Lawrenceburg are:
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