Finally made an appointment to retain lawyer!

[Lindsay]

We finally got around to making an appointment to actually retain the lawyer. I've done a little research on him online and if he is nice and looks competent, we plan to retain him the same day. The receptionist was very nice when I called and answered alot of questions for me. I made an appointment for Tuesday at 5pm. She told me to bring paystubs, 2 years tax returns, title to vehicles, mortgage, car payment loan, any IRAs. Is there anything else I should bring to make it a smooth meeting? I've been stalling for a long time while I waited for six months to pass after last charge card use (actually its been 7 months now!). I feel so much relief to actually have an appointment to take care of this mess. I may be able to sleep at night or breathe again soon. I honestly don't know what I would have done without the support of this wonderful board; I probably would have been committed to the insane asylum.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Lindsay, if it were me I would also write down my list of questions (so I don't forget any). Also, at some point you are going to have to provide him with a list of your creditors, all their addresses, and the approximate amount of your debt for each, so you might as well start getting that together. You'll also want to give him the account numbers for those debts. Don't forget secured debt (he hit on the car and house, but do you have any other secured debts?), student loans, back taxes (not taxes that have not become due yet) and details of any leases that you are party to, whether lessee or lessor. Like I said, he'll need this information in order to file anyway (any lawyer you hire will need it) so you might as well assemble it now. That, and don't give him your originals of anything; copies are fine. If it doesn't work out with this lawyer somewhere on down the line, you don't want to have to mess with getting your one and only copy of last year's tax return from him, for instance. The $10 or so you spend on copies is well, well worth it. When I made copies of all my stuff, I made a set for myself too, so I can just whip it out if I ever need it and not have to go through several day's worth of reassembling all that mess.

Good luck! I hope it goes well for you!!!