Many individuals fall into financial hardships during their lives. There may have been a medical emergency in your family, and your health insurance refused to cover the price tag. You may have been inundated with medical bills you cannot pay as a result. You may have also taken out loans to pay for your child's college education. However, before you may pay off the loans, you were terminated from your job as part of a corporate downsizing. Whatever the situation, many individuals can amass big levels of debt in their lives due to circumstances they weren't wholly responsible for. Bankruptcy in the US exists as a solution for people in dire situations where they can no longer pay off their debts. Contacting an attorney who specializes in bankruptcy law is one possibility you should certainly consider if you're in this kind of situation.
Filing for bankruptcy is can be a really complex, life-changing ordeal with far reaching consequences. You should first be certain that filing for bankruptcy is right for you and your family before you contact a bankruptcy lawyer.
There are indeed a number of options you should consider first. One possibility is trying to reach an out of court settlement with some of your creditors. A creditor is unlikely to give you an out of court settlement if you simply ask them for one. However, there are a several businesses that exist to represent you in a situation like this. If you hire them, they'll attempt to negotiate a new agreement where you can repay your debt at a reduced amount.
Another possibility you should consider is contacting a debt counseling service. The debt counseling service may be able to help you better manage your bills. They can also negotiate with creditors to give you better terms by lowering the amount you have to pay. They can also assist you consolidate your bills into one simple monthly payment that may be much easier for you to handle. However, you do have to qualify for these advantages. Certain people may be too far into debt to even be OK'd for getting this kind of debt counseling.
If these and other choices are used, filing for bankruptcy may be one of the only decisions remaining. An individual in debt can either file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy can last six months and may end up with all of your serious debts being discharged. Chapter 13 can last from three to five years. During this time span, your debts would be reorganized into a long-term payment plan that would allow you to slowly pay off your debts. Which chapter you qualify for depends on the amount of disposable income your household brings in.
If you have exhausted all other options and believe bankruptcy is the best option left to you to solve your debt issues, contact an attorney specializing in bankruptcy law to help you move through the bankruptcy process so you can once again live debt free some day.
