A Lee's Summit Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney Can Help

Your Kansas City or Lee's Summit bankruptcy attorney can help. People file Chapter 13 for various reasons. In some cases, you have non-exempt assets that you want to protect and you can afford to pay something over time to protect them. In others, subtle differences between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 make filing under Chapter 13 advisable such as debts from a divorce or tax debts. Most people file Chapter 13 because they make too much money to qualify for a Chapter 7.

What Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Pleadings Will My Lee's Summit Bankruptcy Attorney Help Me File?

A Lee's Summit bankruptcy attorney can help you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. There are a number of requirements in the initial petition.

• Petition for bankruptcy;
• you Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan;
• an accounting of your assets and liabilities;
• a schedule of current income and expenditures;
• a certification of your earnings in the prior 180 days for the purpose of the means test;
• a statement of financial affairs including business interests and payments or transfers of assets to family members or other related parties;
• a listing of any contracts or leases which are pending;
• a schedule of executory contracts and unexpired leases;
• a list of all creditors and the amount and nature of their claims;
• the source, amount, and frequency of the debtor's income;
• a list of all of the debtor's property; and
• a detailed list of the debtor's monthly living expenses;
• a listing of the property you are claiming as exempt;

Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007(b).

What Happens After I File For Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

When you file for bankruptcy, your creditors cannot call you any more or harass you for payment.  They can only speak through the Court with regard to their claims.  This is known as the Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy.  If a creditor is unaware that you have filed, all you need to do is give them your case number and they can never call you again!  11 U.S.C. § 362.

Chapter 13 also contains a special automatic stay provision that protects co-debtors. Unless the bankruptcy court authorizes otherwise, a creditor may not seek to collect a "consumer debt" from any individual who is liable along with the debtor. 11 U.S.C. § 1301(a). Consumer debts are those incurred by an individual primarily for a personal, family, or household purpose. 11 U.S.C. § 101(8).

Your Kansas City bankruptcy attorney will go with you to the Meeting of Creditors between 21 and 40 days after the petition is filed. In the Western District of Missouri, this meeting has traditionally been held at the federal courthouse in a big room with other people who have filed. You are meeting with an attorney assigned to represent your creditors and Mr. Carey will attend with you. Since the advent of COVID, the bankruptcy courts have transitioned to a phone conference for these meetings. Mr. Carey believes that due to the ongoing pandemic and the elimination of security concerns raised by in-person meetings that phone conference meetings will be the norm for the forseeable future.

Can A Kansas City Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney Help Me Avoid Foreclosure?

Individuals may use a chapter 13 proceeding to save their home from foreclosure. The automatic stay stops the foreclosure proceeding as soon as the individual files the chapter 13 petition. The individual may then bring the past-due payments current over a reasonable period of time. Nevertheless, the debtor may still lose the home if the mortgage company completes the foreclosure sale under state law before the debtor files the petition. 11 U.S.C. § 1322(c). The debtor may also lose the home if he or she fails to make the regular mortgage payments that come due after the chapter 13 filing.  Source: Us Courts

What Will My Lee's Summit Bankruptcy Lawyer Ask Me To Do After The 341 Meeting?

You will need to take a financial management class that Jeffrey Carey affectionately refers to at the "How Not To Do This Again Class."  You will also need to provide the trustee with any additional documentation they request at the Meeting of Creditors and may need to amend your pleadings with new information.  When that is done, you will have your fresh start that can start today by calling 816.246.9446.