Houston Bankruptcy Attorney – Basics of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13
February 6th, 2012 by the writer
Before you seek out a Houston bankruptcy attorney, you should learn to understand the process one goes through when declaring bankruptcy. There are 2 main types of bankruptcy, known commonly as Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. In both types of bankruptcy filing, the first step you have to take is to go through credit counseling. The idea is that this training may help you avoid having to complete the bankruptcy process, or at least, prevent you from having to go through it a second time. There are many credit counseling courses available online. If your credit counseling course results in you producing a payment plan to pay off your debts, you will be required to file that payment plan in court.
The financial management course is important and actually helps a great many people. Your bankruptcy process will not be allowed to be completed if you do not finish the course. The course has to be completed within 45 days of the first trustee meeting, in the Chapter 7 process. There are many options for taking the course, to include doing it online. It is relatively inexpensive. The typical cost for doing the course is usually under $100. Your bankruptcy lawyer can likely recommend a good course.
After all the steps have been done, the bankruptcy process can be completed. In legalese, this is called discharging the bankruptcy. The bankruptcy trustee will take care of your discharge under Chapter 13, if you have made all payments according to your payment plan. For Chapter 7 bankruptcies, you will be mailed your notice of discharge, as long as no creditors exercised their right to object to your bankruptcy discharge within the 60 day window. Please remember, your debts are not taken care of until you receive the notice of discharge. To find out more information, check out this article on the process and talk to a Houston bankruptcy attorney.
