BEWARE! Bankruptcy law is extremely complex, and there are exceptions to almost every statement in this overview. Nothing on this website should be considered legal advice; you should review your specific circumstances with a qualified lawyer before making any decisions regarding bankruptcy.

i) What is bankruptcy? Bankruptcy is a way for folks drowning in debt to get a FRESH START.

ii) What is the process?

(1) With the lawyer

(a) First, of course, you &lt;CONTACT US&gt;. Usually I meet with bankruptcy clients three times before I file your case with the court. The first meeting is a free consultation, to answer any questions you may have (but I’ve tried to answer them all here!) and so you can explain your specific circumstances to me. After you’ve told me your story, I’ll make sure you understand the choices you have and how they affect your particular situation. I will help you decide whether bankruptcy is the right choice for you and, if so, which chapter best suits your needs. If bankruptcy is not for you, I’ll send you with my best wishes and you will owe nothing.

(b) If we agree that Bankruptcy by Bodle is your best way to get a fresh start, I will welcome you as a new client and we’ll get the process started. First, I’ll have to know practically every detail of your financial life – where you work, what you earn, what you own, what you owe &amp; to whom, what you rent, where you live, who you support, what they earn, etc., etc. We’ve got this OBNOXIOUSLY long &lt;questionnaire&gt; that asks all those questions and more, and for most folks, coming up with complete and accurate answers is probably the second-most-difficult thing about bankruptcy (right after making the decision to make that appointment with the lawyer). And we’ll need a lot of supporting documentation – paystubs, deeds, contracts, notes, bills, and the like. (We’ve got a &lt;list&gt;.) We’ll make all this as easy as we can for you; you can fill out the questionnaire online and fax or email the documents, if that’s what’s easy for you; or you can fill out the paper form by hand and bring us your original documents for us to copy or scan; whatever works best for you.

(c) The second appointment is for me to review your questionnaire and documents and for us to answer one another’s questions – usually, at this point, if you don’t have some more questions for me, I’ve got several for you. This is usually a shorter meeting than the first, often less than a half-hour. At the end of this second meeting, I should have all the information and documents I need to prepare your case for filing with the court.

(d) Before your case is filed, you must complete a qualified &lt;credit counseling&gt; session; we must file the Certificate of Completion with your petition.

(e) The third meeting is for you to sign the petition, supporting schedules, and other documents to file with the court – a couple of dozen forms, usually about 50-100 pages, a dozen or so signatures, all saying, “Really, this is all my information, all my stuff, all my debts, and it’s all true, I swear.” As soon as we’re done signing, I’m ready to file the case in the United States Bankruptcy Court.

(2) With the court

(a) All our cases are filed with the court electronically, so it happens almost instantly; and the court sends out formal, written notice to all necessary parties, including all your creditors – and your creditors must immediately cease all collection efforts. This “automatic stay” is the first great benefit of bankruptcy – no more collection calls, no more garnishments, no more lawsuits – all collections must stop and wait until we figure out exactly what the bankruptcy is going to do.

(b) In most cases, you will not need to appear personally before the court, ever – but there is one mandatory appearance, called the “creditors’ meeting” or, more commonly, the “341 meeting,” after the code section that requires it. As the name implies, creditors MAY attend this meeting, but they rarely do; in fact the primary purpose is for your case trustee to interview you about your case. Many people are very nervous about this appearance, as if they were going before a judge to be sentenced for life or some such thing, but it’s not like that at all. Most of the trustee’s questions are routine, and when we don’t have some specific information the trustee wants, we get it to ‘em later, no problem. And, in any event, I will be there with you, personally, to take care of anything that might come up. My standard advice for 341 meetings is, “Answer the trustee’s questions honestly, then shut up. I don’t mean to be rude, but most of the time when folks try to explain their answers, they’re just wasting everybody’s time. The trustees are not shy, and if they’ve got more questions, they’ll ask ‘em. And don’t be afraid of a little silence; usually there are periods of silence after people’s answers, while the trustee figures out what the next question is. Just wait, then answer the next question. It’ll be over before you know it.” [I think this quoted passage should be italicized… JB]

(c) After the case is filed, but before you get your discharge, you must complete a &lt;financial management&gt; course.

(d) If yours is a Chapter 13 case, of course you’ll have to make your monthly payments; but otherwise it’s mostly just a matter of waiting for the discharge.

(3) With your property. First, we take all of your property and divide it into (a) exempt property and (b) non-exempt property. Exempt property is set aside for you to keep (WITH any debt secured by the property); non-exempt property (if any) goes to the Trustee, who sells it and distributes the proceeds to your unsecured creditors. (In many cases, the trustee sells the non-exempt property back to the debtor, but the proceeds still go to the creditors.) When that’s done, you get your discharge, wiping out any remaining debt to the general unsecured creditors, and you get your Fresh Start.

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