Filing Bankruptcy In Arizona: A Detailed Outline Of Each Phase

Mesa’s Reliable Bankruptcy Attorneys Carefully Explain The 6 Steps In a Bankruptcy Process

By the time you’re ready to file for bankruptcy, you likely want to get it done as quickly as possible. You have likely been underwater for a long time, and you want debt relief NOW. You don’t want to spend another single day dealing with harassing phone calls, emails, or letters from your creditors. You just want to be past it all.

Fortunately, filing for bankruptcy can give you fast debt relief. However, it won’t be instant. At a minimum, it will be a few months before you are done with it all, though you will get immediate relief from harassment from your creditors. Here’s a closer look at the phases of bankruptcy to help you know what to expect:

Pre-Bankruptcy Counseling

Before you can file for bankruptcy, you have to complete an approved counseling course. The “course” is really a one-on-one session with a counselor who will talk to you about your finances, help you understand how bankruptcy may impact you, discuss your other financial options, and help you start a budget.

Your Mesa bankruptcy attorney can suggest an approved counselor for you to complete this step.

The Bankruptcy Filing

You will spend the most time on putting together the bankruptcy filing with your bankruptcy attorney than on any other part of the bankruptcy process. Your attorney will ask you for a lot of documentation about your income, your expenses, and your debts. You may be asked to provide explanations for some expenses or debts also.

Your bankruptcy attorney in Mesa will spend a lot of time on your bankruptcy filing, ensuring that everything is filled out completely and accurately. Any mistakes on your filing could jeopardize your ability to get debt relief or could cause other trouble. Be transparent with your attorney and provide as much information as you can.

The Automatic Stay

As soon as your bankruptcy attorney files your bankruptcy paperwork, an automatic stay will be triggered. The automatic stay prohibits your creditors from contacting you about your debt until your bankruptcy filing can be resolved. That means that creditors cannot call you, send you letters, or send you emails. If they do, they can face legal consequences.

You may get a call or letter after your automatic stay is issued just because it was initiated before your creditor got proper notice. If that happens, just let the creditor know that you have filed for bankruptcy and direct them to your bankruptcy attorney in Mesa.

Meeting Of Your Creditors

This may sound scary, but it is usually a formality. About a month or two after your bankruptcy paperwork is filed, you will have a creditor’s meeting. None of your creditors are actually likely to show up for this meeting. Instead, it will be you, your bankruptcy lawyer, and a bankruptcy trustee. The trustee will review the filing and will likely ask you a few questions.

Your creditors have the opportunity to attend these meeting or to send in a formal complaint, but this is a rare occurrence. Instead, your bankruptcy trustee will likely close the meeting by approving your bankruptcy filing or by setting up the payment plan for your Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing.

Debtor Education Course

You must take another education course before your bankruptcy can be finalized. This debtor education course will cover things like how to make a budget, how to manage your money, and how to use credit wisely. The course takes about two hours to finish, and it can be completed online in many cases.

Notice Of Discharge

The last step in the bankruptcy process is discharge. You will receive this in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy after the trustee has reviewed your filing and found no issues, and after you have completed the debtor education course. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will receive the notice of discharge after you have completed your three- to five-year repayment plan.

The entire bankruptcy process only takes a few months to finish. If you filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Mesa, you’ll have a complete discharge of your unsecured debt at the end of that time. If you filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you’ll begin your repayment plan, which will take three to five years to finish. At the end of that time, you may be able to discharge some of your remaining debt.

Seeking Debt Relief? Our Arizona Bankruptcy Law Firm Can Help!

Call My AZ Lawyers today to talk with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer about whether bankruptcy might be right for you. We represent clients seeking protection through Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Our goal is to help you get the maximum debt relief possible as quickly as possible. We serve clients throughout the Phoenix area. Call us today to make an appointment with a Mesa bankruptcy attorney to learn more about your options.

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