Houston bankruptcy attorney

Before you seek out a Houston bankruptcy attorney, you should learn what you can about the bankruptcy process. There are two main types of bankruptcy protection, known commonly as Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. In both types of bankruptcy filing, the first step you have to take is to go through credit counseling. You also have to complete a financial management program. The idea is that this training may help you avoid having to complete the bankruptcy process, or at least, prevent you from having to go through it again. There are many credit counseling courses available online. If your credit counseling course result in you producing a payment plan to pay off your debts, you will be required to file that payment plan in court.

Filing your current state of affairs

The next step in filing for bankruptcy will require a bit more work for your Houston bankruptcy attorney. Your attorney will prepare schedules, petitions, and a statement of your affairs. You will have to sign them as being true and accurate under penalty of perjury. It's important that you understand the seriousness of these documents, and that you provide all required information to your lawyer. After the documents are filed in court, your case officially starts, and the court clerk will give your case a case number.

Meeting with your bankruptcy trustee

In Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, you will meet with a bankruptcy trustee approximately four to six weeks after the case officially starts. In a Chapter 13 case, you will be required to file a plan of repayment that will be given to your creditors. This plan is set up so that your creditors get the same amount they would be entitled to in a Chapter 7 case. Usually, these plans look forward for at least 36 months, and require that you allocate all of your disposable income to the repayment plan. You will then meet with the bankruptcy trustee, after you have filed the plan of repayment.

Who are your creditors?

After meeting with the bankruptcy trustee, the next step is to give a period of time to creditors to object to your plan of repayment. In Chapter 7 cases, creditors get 60 days to object. In Chapter 13 cases, they get 90 days. The clock starts running after your meeting with bankrupcty trustee. The creditors can file a complaint against your plan with a couple of different possible objections. They may be able to claim a credit statement contains false information, or they may claim fraud. They may also request that they be given extra time before filing their complaint.

If any complaints are filed by creditors, you may be headed for trial. To avoid the expense of a trial, it may be possible to settle the creditors' complaints out of court. Your Houston bankruptcy lawyer can advise you on the merits of your case at trial, and whether you will be better off settling the creditors' claims. The Chapter 13 process has a "plan confirmation hearing" at this stage. The hearing serves to verify the terms of your plan for repayment of debts.

Financial management course

At this stage, you will have to participate in a financial management course. Your bankruptcy process will not be allowed to be completed if you do not finish the course. In the Chapter 7 process, the course has to be completed within 45 days of the first trustee meeting. There are many options for taking the course, including online courses. The process is not very expensive, either. Typically, it is well under $100 for the course.

Last steps

Finally, after the above steps have been completed, the bankruptcy process can be completed. In legal-speak, it is called discharging the bankruptcy. The trustee will take care of your discharge under Chapter 13, if you have made all payments according to your payment plan. For Chapter 7 bankruptcies, you will be mailed your notice of discharge, as long as no creditors exercised their right to object to your bankruptcy discharge within the 60 day window. Keep in mind, until you receive the notice of discharge, your debts are not taken care of. Your Houston bankruptcy attorney will guide you through this process, but being informed ahead of time will help you work better with your lawyer.