Do I really need to hire a bankruptcy attorney?
Bankruptcy filings continue to increase here in Arizona. There was a drastic 69% increase in the number of submissions in the last year. With so many Arizonans filing for bankruptcy, it is not uncommon for the question to arise as to whether or not it is necessary to hire a bankruptcy attorney. There has recently been an increase in online bankruptcy filing advertising, and many are turning to this as a way to save money. Although this may seem like a good idea, it can sometimes backfire and end up costing more than you would have spent hiring a qualified attorney. For example, Johns N. Skiba, a Glendale bankruptcy attorney with the Jackson White Law Firm in Phoenix AZ, relates the following story about a person who tried to file on his behalf.
“I was once in bankruptcy court with a client who was attending hearings before the trustee. There was a person who met with the trustee just before he met with my clients. The trustee noticed that this person owned a free plot of land and of course and he had just sold his house. The trustee informed the person that he would auction the plot of land and distribute the proceeds to his creditors of land, so I can keep it!” The trustee then informed him that the homestead exemption in Arizona does not apply to vacant land and therefore he would lose ownership.”
This is not an isolated case. Why then should you hire a bankruptcy attorney? The bankruptcy process is very complex. The bankruptcy code is very complicated and attorneys spend years familiarizing themselves with it. There are some cases that are very simple and straightforward, and for such cases it might be appropriate to file on your own, but I still wouldn’t recommend it. There are deadlines to meet, paperwork to file, and procedures to maintain. If any of these things are not done correctly, the case could be dismissed and the process started all over again, wasting valuable time and money for nothing, it is worth hiring an Arizona bankruptcy attorney.
As John’s story related, you may also be at risk of losing your personal property. Here in Arizona, there are exemption laws, which means that when he files for bankruptcy, he doesn’t have to lose everything. He is allowed to keep certain things, for example, his car, house, furniture, and many personal items up to a certain value. BUT, he must list these items, and if he doesn’t know what things may be exempt and how exactly the law works in his state, he stands to lose quite a bit.