"I wish they'd a told me that!"

[r.m]

I work with a lot of clients who are "bankruptcy roadkill."

They feel like they've been run over by a truck after they've filed, and a lot of them didn't get the results that they were really hoping to get by filing.

It sounds to me like most BK attorneys do a gawdawful job of explaining the process and preparing their clients in advance.

IME, almost none of them explain the downside of filing, particularly for 13 cases.

What was your biggest "surprise," or what problems did you have that could have been avoided if your attorney had "done their job."

[tylermom]

If our attorney would have added in the child support I had received the six months prior to filing we would have never filed a 7 and instead would have filed a 13 which I am presently in. He knew about the child support, he had documentation, paperwork, etc. but forgot to add it so therefore once I found his mistake which was the day I received our ch. 7 paperwork in the mail I immediately called his office and his secretary was just like "well now it looks like you will be in a 13". I was so upset to say the least, especially since the child support stopped in July 07 since my son graduated high school. Had I known that additional $336.00 per month would have put me in a 13 I would have waited six months to file. Now I not only have a ch.13 on my credit report but also a ch. 7 since that is originally what we filed. That should be alot of fun to deal with and explain down the road to creditors, etc. Lesson learned always look your paperwork over again and again to make sure all figures and numbers are correct before you sign anything. BTW my schedule J shows negative 445 per month. I hate that means test. That six month look-back period is the most ignorant thing ever. Our attorney said we could try to fight it in court and see if the Judge would rule in our favor to go w/ the current income instead of the means test but that child support issue was not the first thing he screwed up on and we had absolutely no faith in our attorney at that point so we just went ahead and went w/ the 13 and a low monthly payment. It just seemed easier and we were just glad to be done.

[Lajazz947]

This just goes to show that the more prepared you are, the more you read in these forums and the more questions you ask the better.

Knowing this ask your attorney what the downside is to both 7 and 13, ask about rebuilding credit, judgements, ask WHY they recommend a 7 or a 13 and ask them to explain the differences not only as far as the basics but what fights they expect.

Ask them if there is an optimal time to file for CC use and income.

I asked all these questions and I think that I will pull the trigger next month. My attorney is not worried about my chances to qualify for a 7 but he is ready to fight because I have prepared a pretty extensive package for him.

I know your attorney should know but familiarize yourself with the means test, do a schedule I & J yourself, read up on the exemptions, know about insider payments, lien stripping etc.

I think that this is one of the most important learning experiences that one can have and it is an opportunity that you rarely get so it is incumbent upon us to make the most of this forum.

Thanks to all.

[woeisme]

I wish they had told me to get a newer car before filing CH 13. I specifically asked about that, he said he couldn't advise me to take on any more debt, which I took to mean I'd get in trouble with the trustee for it, so went into my CH 13 5-year plan with a 10 year old vehicle with 150,000 miles on it. Later the commented on why I hadn't gone ahead and got a new car before filing, when I reminded him of what was said earlier, he said by law he was required to tell me not to take on more debt, but that he expected me to ignore that advice and set myself up propertly to survive my 13!!! Luckily we're 1 year into it and no major car problems yet, but I'm looking at trying to file for a change in plan at some point because no way will we last another 4 years on the vehicles we have now.

[Flamingo]

All attorneys are different and a lot depends on the folks filing - believe me, you need to educate yourself as much as possible when you think you will need to file bankruptcy. Don't bury your head in the sand and think it will go away or someone will show up at your front door with a $100,000 check - won't happen. Attorney's are busy - just like doctors or any other professional. Many (as mine did) gave us a whole packet of stuff to read and to educate ourselves and gave us a detailed breakdown as to everything; we had one of the top BK attorneys in our state and I we never ever had any problems as to anything; all questions answered promptly and everything explained. Also, we we first all think about filing, we are all so emotional and in an entirely new place - I never thought in my entire life that I would have ever had to file BK.

Say you go to your doctor and he advises you you need surgery. You are in outer space cause it is an entirely new area and all sorts of anxiety and questions hit. Same with BK. Just as you would educate yourself as to your upcoming surgery, you need to do the same as to your finances and filing BK. ASK the attorney if he/she has any brochures or information available when you meet with them; there are tons of books out there on BK and then there are forums such as this which give a lot of experience but all situations are usually different, and also state exemptions and other matters differ.

[AngelinaCat]

We were planning toward a 13, and our attorney told us we could keep all our property and do anything we wanted to. She did NOT tell us anything about planning, or needing to wait a period of time to file, other than to say that we would have to wait 6 months after a yearly annuity payment had dropped off the radar.

We sold a mortgage note, and used the proceeds to pay off a lot of bills, and repay a couple of loans. We were never told NOT to repay more than $600.00 at a time to any one creditor, or it would appear to be 'preferrential'. Even though we tried to communicate all this activity to her. Likewise, when I lost my job, and my employer chose to pay me my accrued retirement funds, we were never told to roll that into another retirement account. Instead we payed more bills with that. This income made our income look like more than it actually was, and I am sure is what got us designated as an Asset case.

The loss of my job was what kicked us into a 7.

But the real kicker, was that the assignment of the Mortgage Note was not recorded in our paperwork--even though she had all the information. We failed to notice it wasn't listed, though when we had the opportunity to correct the final draft (again) we found some of the same old mistakes we had already corrected and some new ones. That failure to list that Mortgage note got us into deep doo doo with the Trustee and we had a Rule 2004(b) Examination. All has worked out more or less well, but had we found this Forum FIRST, before even hiring the attorney, I think 'Hub and I would have been in far better shape. We could easily have waited until July of this year, instead of panicking when we were hit with a couple of lawsuits at the end of the year 2007. We know now we could have withstood a couple of judgments. But we didn't know it then!

[DebtSlave]

I hear you Angelina Cat.
When I consulted an attorney to file, I told him to explain like I was 5 years old.
I redid a lot of his paperwork.
He left of 3 major credit cards and one credit union loan. Left them off all the way up to the 341. After I reminded him via his paralegals and him personally three tmes in writing.
I had to mention it to the trustee. I guess they were all so busy in Oct of 05. And they were !
If I hadn't found this forum I would have falsely assumed the attorney knew best and would handle everything.
As I approach my discharge date..I will try to prepare myself for another mtg with the attorney and hope all is well.
I want to thank everyone on this forum for your time and hard work in obtaining pertinent advice for us.

[Frogge]

I wish they had told me to get a newer car before filing CH 13. I specifically asked about that, he said he couldn't advise me to take on any more debt, which I took to mean I'd get in trouble with the trustee for it, so went into my CH 13 5-year plan with a 10 year old vehicle with 150,000 miles on it.

This is what I have been warned about from people that have been down this road: the attorney will hint things to you that you must take as a HINT, and use them to your advantage. They have to say : "I cannot advise you to buy a car...." but apparently, you must read between the lines. I have called my atty's office to set a meeting.. and I will have my WIDE LENSE glasses on to see what I need to be planning. We have the same car-related questions.

Also, I gave him 110% info up front (income, CC debt amounts, etc), before even discussing BK.. this was when we were just asking for help with giving up our old home. He ignored basically 105% of what I gave him and gave me no advice on BK at that point.. which I see now is a GOOD thing.

[liz417]

This is what I have been warned about from people that have been down this road: the attorney will hint things to you that you must take as a HINT, and use them to your advantage. They have to say : "I cannot advise you to buy a car...." but apparently, you must read between the lines. I have called my atty's office to set a meeting.. and I will have my WIDE LENSE glasses on to see what I need to be planning. We have the same car-related questions.

Also, I gave him 110% info up front (income, CC debt amounts, etc), before even discussing BK.. this was when we were just asking for help with giving up our old home. He ignored basically 105% of what I gave him and gave me no advice on BK at that point.. which I see now is a GOOD thing.

Yes, you must wear you "wide lense glasses" LOL! Although our attorney was very sweet, she was more direct and said something like, "I can't tell you what to do, but I am VERY concerned about your vehicle making it through the 5 year plan and I see you still have decent credit scores (never been late/missed payments at that point)"!

Why are you 'glad' your attorney didn't look at all the info when you went in for a consult?

[chloe0724]

I wish he would have told me to wait. He knew my husband was going to become disabled during the process and never advised me to wait to file till then, I had noone after me except endless phone calls, so I could have waited months and then we would have been able to file 7.

Oh well, we're confirmed as is, and I think that living in the 13 budget for 5 years will make us better money people.

[holding on]

My biggest surprise was how little work my attorney actually does on my case. His legal assistant does almost everything. This becomes a problem when the legal assistant doesn't know as much as the client and then legal questions presented to the lawyer aren't properly answered. I don't care how busy my lawyer gets, he wasn't too busy to take my check, so he needs to still properly answer legal questions.

People in BK need to dive into the waters and not sit at the poolside when it comes to thier bk.