In times of national economic crisis, the common man is the most affected. You can be a normal, average person bringing in a regular income, owning a home and a vehicle and having some savings. But a sudden major illness, death in the family, divorce or loss of a job, demotion or sudden injury resulting in loss of your income, might turn the scales against you. Overnight you might stand to lose the battle to pay your debts, mortgages and other loan repayments in time. Financial ruin might bring about the end of your marriage or the loss of your home. In such dire circumstances you should seek out legal help to tide over the state of affairs. Before you face losing your home to foreclosure, or losing most of your assets you might be advised to seek out the professional advice of a bankruptcy attorney to save you and your family from ruin and penury.
The bankruptcy attorney can furnish the necessary advice on how to protect your assets from being liquidated. Under Chapter 7, you will have to provide a list of your assets. The assets you are allowed to keep will be determined from a list of state or federal exemptions that vary from one jurisdiction to the next. The non-exempt properties may be required to be handed over to a court appointed Trustee. If you are advised filing for Chapter 7, liquidation, you might be discharged of the pending debts against you within 60 days of the Meeting with Creditors. If the court appointed Trustee tries to attach any non-exempt properties, the bankruptcy attorney should be able to guide you best on how to protect your non-exempt assets. Once 60 days have elapsed since your meeting with creditors, you can no longer be accountable for the discharged debts.
In some cases your bankruptcy attorney might advise the filing under Chapter 13. This form of filing for bankruptcy is mostly advised to save the debtor from foreclosure of his home. If you are behind in your mortgage payments or car payments the bankruptcy attorney might counsel you to file for Chapter 13. Filing under Chapter 7 under the same circumstances might require the debtor to surrender the property. Under the Chapter 13 plan you can repay your dues over an extended period, and the court may give you 3-5 years in which to do so. If you own valuable properties that cannot be exempted, you would be also advised filing under Chapter 7 by your bankruptcy attorney. Stafford, VA residents can get the best advice from experienced local professionals with thorough knowledge of the latest laws.
