Here is my List of what to Bring to my free BK7 meeting. Have I forgotten anything?

[slvnomore]

Here is my List of what to Bring to my free BK7 meeting. Have I forgotten anything?

Here is a list I have found. Is there anything else I should bring? What did you bring to be prepared
to make the most of your free consult?


For Me: My list of questions.

For ATT:

-Tax returns (federal and state) for prior three years
-Pay stubs or income for last six months
- Listing of monthly expenses that is detailed, accurate, and complete, including everything you spend money on in a month, respective monthly minimum payments for each item, and amounts you spend over that minimum, such as food, car maintenance, fuel, medicine, entertainment, charitable contributions, expenses apportioned to your spouse even if you are not filing a joint bankruptcy case, etc.
-Inventory of all of your possessions with a valuation for each item based on auction value (what you would yield in a yard sale) instead of replacement value—It is advisable to use categories such as secured property, titled property, real property, personal property, intangible property, and high-value property (usually worth more than $500).
-Accurate and current statement reflecting all accounts with balances and latest balances for each account (checking, savings, money market, retirement, investment, medical, college, pension, insurance, etc.)
-Statement of all arrearages (missed or late payments) on real and personal property (usually a house and/or car) that you would like to retain
-Valid driver's license or state identification card
-Original Social Security card
-Complete and detailed listing of all debts, regardless of how small, and amounts estimated for each debt, capturing at least amount owed, creditor owed, minimum payment, interest rate, and creditor's address
-Lawsuit paperwork for any suit you have filed or that has been filed against you
-Garnishment paperwork for any wage garnishment issued against you
-Repossession paperwork for any repossession of your vehicle
-Judgment paperwork for any judgment entered against you
- Latest Credit report
- Car Values print out at NADA.com


Anything else? Thanks! ; )

[justbroke]

That's quite extensive. I don't know if anyone has ever brought such a list. If you find an attorney that will look at all of those items and they seem personable... stick with that attorney. Typically, the "free" consultations will generally look at your income and an estimate of expense to determine suitability. They are not preparing your bankruptcy case during this free consult.

I think you would have more than enough information given what you have above. The real key is going to be your income, household size, and major expenses (such as cars and home).

[TXskyblue]

For my initial free BK visit, I brought my tax returns, bank statements, my 3 credit reports, a list of my credit cards with amounts, and a list of my monthly expenses. The attorneys didn't look at any of it directly and instead asked me for approximate numbers so they could do "back of envelope" math and see where I was at regarding a 7 vs. 13.

Bring it all if you like, but I'd recommend writing out your monthly income, your debt, your monthly expenses, and any questions you have and bring this. The attorney will want this.

Like justbroke said, they are not going to start preparing your case at this meeting. They are doing rough math, answering questions, and giving you a preview of what they think they can do for you.

Good luck at your meeting!

[LadyInTheRed]

To get the most of a free consultation, you want the most relevant information in an easy to look at format. Most attorneys will not take the time to look through a large stack of documents until after you sign a fee agreement and pay at least part of their fee. I suggest a spreadsheet listing your unsecured creditors and amounts owed to each, secured creditors with amount owed, monthly payment and the value of the collateral, the values of any major assets, your monthly expenses, and your total gross income and deductions from income for the last 6 months. I emailed a spreadsheet to attorneys before my consultation and they ran numbers before I got there.

[keepmine]

Prehaps the easy thing to do would be to ask the lawyers para what the attorney will require at the first consultation. What you got there is overkill.

[Pizza]

At the free consult, it's really just income, expenses, amount of debt, and a handful of questions; plus any questions which you wish to ask before getting started.

The attorneys had me fill out a short questionnaire before the consultation with which they could crunch some quick numbers and ask some questions to determine the complexity/simplicity of the case.

I had the big heaping folder full of all those documents with me but I had them sorted for quick reference (just in case). Some attorneys, including the one I actually hired, went through the documents and expressed enthusiasm for my organization.

In the end, the long questionnaire following the consultation was where *I* got to compile all of that stuff using my documents, the basis of which the petition was prepared by the law firm.

[seagoat77]

Same as the others - they had me fill out a short questionaire before actually meeting with the attorney. They didn't even look at the documents they had asked me to bring to the consultation. It was all a quick math game to figure out which Chapter I'd qualify for. the documentation was asked to be submitted after they recieved my final payment. Good luck at your meeting(s)!

[ksgirl38]

That's a great list, but that's really more of what you'll want to take after you've hired someone. I would concentrate on a list of questions, paystubs from the last 6 months and any paperwork involving things that might come up during your consult. For example, if you are planning on including any credit cards, a home or a car you'll want the statements from the past 3 months or anything that might have terms that the lawyer may want to review. My attorney gave me a questionnaire to complete after I hired her. It was rather in depth and I provided a stack of paperwork paperclipped with post it notes on it explaining exactly what it was - credit card statements, car loan, car registration, lease on my apartment, any contracts that were active in my name, 6 months of paystubs, 2-3 years of tax returns, medical bills, student loan paperwork, statements from any brokerage firms where you may have stocks or other assets, and bank statements. Good luck.

[LadyInTheRed]

Here's an idea: Call and make some appointments with attorneys and ask what they would like you to bring. You are spending a lot of time preparing for meetings you haven't scheduled!