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Clearwater Bankruptcy Attorneys and Lawyers
serving Tampa Bay Florida
Tampa Clearwater St. Petersburg Lakeland and Port Richey |
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| ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS |
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Will a bankruptcy stop all legal actions?
The filing of a bankruptcy will stop all civil
debt collection actions. Primarily filing a
bankruptcy is used to stop foreclosures,
lawsuits from creditors; such as credit card
companies and collection agencies, and
garnishments. It will not stop the collection of
back child support or the collection of a bad
check. In addition the bankruptcy filing will
not stop any divorce action or criminal case. |
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What documents do I need to file
bankruptcy?
In order to properly prepare your
bankruptcy documents we need the following: |
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I. 6 months proof of income. This includes pay
stubs, social security statement, or cancelled
checks.
II. The past 2 years tax returns. Additionally
the previous 4 years of taxes must have been
filed prior to filing the bankruptcy.
III. Copies of all vehicle titles and/or
registrations.
IV. 6 months of bank statements.
V. In addition all debtors must fill out the
questionnaire which they will get from the
attorney.
Remember, everyone’s case is different, we may
ask for more documents other than the ones
listed. Most notably, if you were recently
divorced we will need a copy of the divorce
decree and marriage settlement agreement if any. |
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In a Chapter 13 case, what is an
unfavorable recommendation?
Don’t panic, an unfavorable recommendation just
means the trustee cannot recommend confirmation
of the Chapter 13 plan at that time. Usually it
just means that there is more work that needs to
be done between our office and the trustee’s
office. Sometimes, the trustee’s office comes up
with different numbers on the means test than we
did and we need more time to figure out whose
numbers are more correct. In some cases, the
debtor has just found employment so there is not
an accurate history of income so the trustee
will request more paystubs or bank statements.
During this time when our office is working
closely with the trustee’s office to get the
case confirmed, it is still important to make
the Chapter 13 plan payments on time. |
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What is automatic withdrawal and why
does the bankruptcy court require me to set this
up?
Automatic withdrawal is when a creditor is
allowed to take your payment directly from your
bank account. When paying a creditor directly
and not in the Chapter 13 plan payment, the
court requires that the debtor set up or try to
set up automatic withdrawal with their creditor
so that there is no question that the payments
to the creditor are being made outside of
bankruptcy. |
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I received an objection to my motion to
value, what does this mean?
When a creditor objects to a motion to value,
they believe that the collateral is worth more
than we are valuing it for. The creditor will
get an appraisal done and we will use our
appraisal to fight it. If a settlement cannot be
reached than we will have to have a hearing on
the issue and the Judge will rule. |
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Why does the Chapter 13 trustee
ask for updated paystubs after I filed my
bankruptcy?
A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is not a
snapshot of filing like the Chapter 7. The
Chapter 13 can look ahead to see what the
debtor’s position will be for the entire life of
the plan. Sometimes if the trustee cannot get
the entire financial picture of the debtor with
just the 6 months of pay stubs, or if the debtor
started a new job right before or after filing,
or recently gained employment, the trustee will
ask for future pay stubs to get a better picture
of what is happening right now. |
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Can the Chapter 13 trustee increase my
payment if my income increases?
Simple answer, yes. However we will go through
the debtor’s expenses and see if there have been
any increases to offset the increase in income
and we will do our best to make the payment
affordable for the debtor. |
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Bankruptcy Attorney Consultation Questionnaire -
Microsoft Word Format
(Click below to open file, then save to your computer
hard drive, and complete)
Bankruptcy Attorneys
Questionnaire
Bankruptcy Attorney Consultation Questionnaire - Adobe
pdf Format
(Click below to open file, print and then complete)
Bankruptcy Attorneys
Questionnaire
Jay Matthew Weller, Attorney at Law
Bankruptcy Attorneys
Tampa Bay Florida
and Debt Consolidation Legal Services
Florida Law Firm with Offices in
Tampa Clearwater (Headquarters) Lakeland Port Richey
Phone: 1-800-407-3328 (DEBT)
www.jayweller.com
Follow Bankruptcy
Law and Weller Legal Group on the Internet!
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