Do You Really Need A Lawyer When Filing For Bankruptcy?

The court system is meant to be accessible to anyone, and so you have the option to represent yourself, as opposed to hiring a professional attorney, in many kinds of legal cases.  In practice, self-representation (the Latin legal term for this is pro se) is more common in the kinds of legal matters that can happen to anyone, such as divorce or child custody, probate, or bankruptcy.  You might think that it is foolish to pay a lawyer when you are already broke and the goal of the legal action is not to get the court to order someone else to pay you money.  If you are already in such bad financial shape, how could representing yourself in a bankruptcy case possibly make things worse?  In fact, you leave yourself vulnerable to a lot of mistakes and problems if you file for bankruptcy without a lawyer.  Conversely, working with a Boca Raton chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer can more quickly set you on the path to regaining your financial stability.

What Can Go Wrong If You Don’t Hire a Lawyer for Your Bankruptcy Case?

It is easy to make rookie mistakes at almost anything you are new to doing, from cooking to managing your finances to operating a business.  Your lack of experience when filing for bankruptcy could lead you to make costly mistakes that will make the bankruptcy filing much less beneficial to your financial health in the long term.  These are just some of the problems that can arise when individuals represent themselves in their own bankruptcy cases:

• You might choose the wrong type of bankruptcy. For example, you might file for chapter 13 bankruptcy when chapter 7 bankruptcy would help your financial situation wrong.
• If you make a mistake on the bankruptcy paperwork, you could end up paying more than you need to, or you might even get accused of fraud.
• If your mistakes are big enough, the court might reject your bankruptcy filing entirely, leaving your financial situation just as bad as it was before.

How a South Florida Bankruptcy Lawyer Can Help You

Avoiding costly and time-consuming mistakes is just one of the ways that a bankruptcy lawyer can help you.  Your lawyer can also help you strategize about long-term financial plans and help you rebuild your credit and your finances after the bankruptcy filing.  An experienced bankruptcy attorney has worked with other people whose situations are similar to yours, as well as many others that were different.  Therefore, your lawyer will know which rules and strategies are most applicable in your case.  Perhaps most importantly, your bankruptcy lawyer can help you put things in perspective, making the process of filing for bankruptcy much less stressful.

Start the New Year Off Right By Contacting a Bankruptcy Lawyer

The first step to get out of the cycle of debt where you have been stuck for years might be to contact a chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer.  Contact Nowack & Olson, PLLC in Boca Raton, Florida to discuss your case.

Resource:

nfcc.org/resources/blog/different-chapters-bankruptcy-explained/#:~:text=There%20are%20six%20chapters%20of,the%20most%20common%20forms%20filed