Part 1
Making the decision to set an appointment with an experienced Phoenix bankruptcy lawyer is the first and most painful step in the bankruptcy process. Doing your homework on your prospective attorney and making sure that you feel comfortable with their skill level, personality and demeanor are vital. You will be working closely with your attorney and staff so you need to make sure that you have found the right fit.
Step 1: The Consultation with a Phoenix Bankruptcy Lawyer
For an initial consultation, we request basic information from you including our client questionnaire and your most recent pay stub or profit & loss statement. These documents give us much of the information needed in order to determine which type of bankruptcy you qualify for so we can discuss the benefits and suitability of filing for bankruptcy protection. We will also look at your assets and liabilities and ask questions in order to determine if there are any hidden issues that may cause problems in your case.
Step 2: Fees and Assembling the documents
In most instances, the attorney fees and costs for a bankruptcy filing must be paid in full before your case can be filed. While these fees are being paid, we recommend that our clients begin assembling the documents that we will need in order to file the case. Initially, our list of documents required for filing seems daunting but each and every document has a very real purpose in the bankruptcy process. The bankruptcy petition and schedules require that we disclose a debtor’s creditors, income, expenses, assets (real property, vehicles, bank accounts, businesses, retirement accounts, personal property, etc.), financial history, leases, co-debtors, and much more. Our office takes the information and produces the petition which both the client and your trusted Phoenix Bankruptcy Lawyer will review carefully before filing.