- Get over it. If you are in the hole, or staring into the abyss, you will know it. Just get over it and go talk to some attorneys. The most desperate situation to be in is one where you have no control and no safety net. If you wait that long, it is unrealistic to expect any person or any process to bail you out and make you whole. So, don’t wait too long. The best time to pull your parachute ring is at the beginning of the free-fall, not at the end.
- Get a good attorney. This will probably be somewhere in the first dozen you speak with. If you can’t pay for one, it is probably because you waited too long – and the irony is that now you need one even more than before. So, don’t wait – get a GOOD attorney. There are great internet resources like AVVO and the like – the back of the phonebook and the billboards along the freeway are probably the last places to call.
- Plan. This is a very good reason to get a good attorney. Your goal is to make your Ch 7 filing as smooth as possible. The more warts there are, the closer the Trustee will look. All files have to pass a “smell test” – and the Trustees can smell irregularities like s#!t on a shoe. Trust me – you do not want to get “cute” with a Trustee or paint around the edges of the law. A good attorney, and a few months planning, will help you avoid having to shade the truth and sell your soul at the 341 hearing.
- Full disclosure. Your attorney has your back. If you feel that you cannot come clean with him/her, it is probably because you ALREADY KNOW the answer and you just don’t like what you are going to hear. That is fine. Tell them, then see if there is a plausible way to avoid the pain. But tell them – no surprises.
- Tell the truth. My grandfather once told me, about 30 years ago, that there is no one more powerful than a bankruptcy Trustee, except for maybe a bankruptcy judge. I believe him. You don’t – and will never – own something more valuable than your freedom and your future. Mess with the Trustee or the judge, and you will become a poster child for all that they can do. BK is for those who have no other realistic choice. Abusing it seems like a hobby for some people…and more than a few are doing time.
- Prepare. You will fill out forms, disclosures, and so forth. Your best guess is not good enough. Get the real numbers and let your attorney help you assemble the final package. If you want to get this done, then you need to do your homework. There is a lot of info to gather, so get started.
- Understand this, most of all – YOU WILL NOT like all the answers you get from your attorney, Trustee, this forum, etc. Bankruptcy is not summer camp – it is a painful process that has a very good opportunity at the other end. This means that, yes, you will feel some pain going through it. As one attorney told me, it is no longer good enough to leave some “milk and cookies” for the Trustee to grab and be satisfied with while they look the other way as you sneak stuff by them. When you file a Ch 7, the Trustee owns you and everything you have for about 90 days. This is serious business. Somewhere along the line, you will feel like nails are being pounded in to you. It is best that this happens before you file, when you are still in control. It is bad if the nails get pounded in you during or after the process when you have no choices and no recourse.
- For us, and for most people, the 4-6 months leading up to a Ch 7 are far more difficult and painful than the 6 months following the day you actually file. Unless you violate some or all of the above suggestions.
Now, I am not an attorney - these are my own personal musings. But I did go through a lengthy BK process and made it through pretty much intact because I did my homework first. More to come.
- Get a good attorney. This will probably be somewhere in the first dozen you speak with. If you can’t pay for one, it is probably because you waited too long – and the irony is that now you need one even more than before. So, don’t wait – get a GOOD attorney. There are great internet resources like AVVO and the like – the back of the phonebook and the billboards along the freeway are probably the last places to call.
- Plan. This is a very good reason to get a good attorney. Your goal is to make your Ch 7 filing as smooth as possible. The more warts there are, the closer the Trustee will look. All files have to pass a “smell test” – and the Trustees can smell irregularities like s#!t on a shoe. Trust me – you do not want to get “cute” with a Trustee or paint around the edges of the law. A good attorney, and a few months planning, will help you avoid having to shade the truth and sell your soul at the 341 hearing.
- Full disclosure. Your attorney has your back. If you feel that you cannot come clean with him/her, it is probably because you ALREADY KNOW the answer and you just don’t like what you are going to hear. That is fine. Tell them, then see if there is a plausible way to avoid the pain. But tell them – no surprises.
- Tell the truth. My grandfather once told me, about 30 years ago, that there is no one more powerful than a bankruptcy Trustee, except for maybe a bankruptcy judge. I believe him. You don’t – and will never – own something more valuable than your freedom and your future. Mess with the Trustee or the judge, and you will become a poster child for all that they can do. BK is for those who have no other realistic choice. Abusing it seems like a hobby for some people…and more than a few are doing time.
- Prepare. You will fill out forms, disclosures, and so forth. Your best guess is not good enough. Get the real numbers and let your attorney help you assemble the final package. If you want to get this done, then you need to do your homework. There is a lot of info to gather, so get started.
- Understand this, most of all – YOU WILL NOT like all the answers you get from your attorney, Trustee, this forum, etc. Bankruptcy is not summer camp – it is a painful process that has a very good opportunity at the other end. This means that, yes, you will feel some pain going through it. As one attorney told me, it is no longer good enough to leave some “milk and cookies” for the Trustee to grab and be satisfied with while they look the other way as you sneak stuff by them. When you file a Ch 7, the Trustee owns you and everything you have for about 90 days. This is serious business. Somewhere along the line, you will feel like nails are being pounded in to you. It is best that this happens before you file, when you are still in control. It is bad if the nails get pounded in you during or after the process when you have no choices and no recourse.
- For us, and for most people, the 4-6 months leading up to a Ch 7 are far more difficult and painful than the 6 months following the day you actually file. Unless you violate some or all of the above suggestions.
Now, I am not an attorney - these are my own personal musings. But I did go through a lengthy BK process and made it through pretty much intact because I did my homework first. More to come.
12/15/10 - 341 COMPLETED 
2/17/11 - DISCHARGED & CLOSED 
MAKE SURE AND VISIT Tobee's Blogs! 
Report of No Distribution!! 12/14/10
Received UST Presumption of Abuse!! 12/15/10
UST states Dismissal is Inappropriate! DISHARGED!! 2/22/11
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