what should we bring to free consoltation?

[jvm]

Our free cons. Is tomorrow. What documents should we bring?

[AngelinaCat]

Since you will be providing this material anyway, to whichever attorney you end up hiring, plan on bringing:

Your last two years of income tax returns, both state and federal
6 months of pay stubs, or pay 'advices' if you have direct deposit
6 months of bank statements (especially if you can't lay hands on the pay stubs right away, and many people can't at first)
Credit card statements, or any Medical bills, other than routine co-pays

You may or may not be asked for info on mortgages and vehicle loans. If you have it, go ahead and take it.

Any other income information such as a Retirement instrument, or Unemployment Compensation.

That should do for a start. Good luck to you!

[jvm]

Thanks!

[TXskyblue]

I brought:

Fresh copies of my free annual credit report from all three CRAs.
Paycheck stubs for the last few months.
Credit card bills.
Mortgage statements.

It was a lot of paper. No one actually looked at any of it. I summarized my finances and the lawyers were happy that I had done some of that work for them because they could get to the meat of the issue quicker. I spent more time asking questions and getting answers instead of watching a lawyer crunch numbers.

My recommendation, regardless of what you do with your papers, is that you write out your questions beforehand. Then, bring those written questions with you and ask them. Write down notes on the answers. You will get back in your car and ask yourself, "Wait what did he say about xxx?" With your notes, you will be less likely to get things mixed up.

Also, make an appointment with more than just one lawyer. Don't automatically go with the first one you talk to. If I had gone with the first one I talked to, I would be in a chapter 13 today instead of having a discharged ch7.

[Pizza]

I brought the whole shebang - neatly organized with tabs in a file folder.

Bank statements
Mortgage statement
At least one copy of each creditor's latest statement
Pay stubs
Valuation of personal assets (I did this to get it over with)
Estimate of monthly expenses
Tax return

He actually did the math during the consultation, which helped breeze this thing along. So having more than enough helps. As the saying goes, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Before the petition was filed we also had to have:

Property valuation - the annual tax statement from the state/city.
Photo ID
Social Security cards

[Drazil65]

I agree with writing out some of your interview questions. Make notes as you are speaking and interviewing the attorney. We also noted things like, did we end up talking to only the paralegal (we had one attorney, big bky mill place that had an "emergency" and sent in his paralegal to talk), how accessible will the attorney be to us (can you call him or email directly), will they be there personally for the 341 (had an attorney tell us "someone from the firm will be there"), did the attorney/firm push for a chp 13 noticeably. These were things that we observed and noted and obvious personal preferences.

I used a big yellow (legal size) envelope for each attorney/firm (put the name, address, phone and email and fee amount on front) and put all my notes and anything we rec'd from them during the process (forms, brochures etc) so that when we were ready to go over everything we had it all separated and easy access for each. Made our research much easier to keep straight and everything at hand. Research and preplanning go hand in hand and you should not move on until you are comfortable with your answers. Also research google voice on this forum, implement it on your phone/computer, clearly identify yourself so that the creditors understand they have reached the correct person. This will be a saving grace for you and your family through out the process. I agree you should interview probably 3 or 4 attorneys (more if you feel like you need to) Good Luck.

[LadyInTheRed]

This is an important point when it comes to deciding what to bring to a consultation:

It was a lot of paper. No one actually looked at any of it. I summarized my finances and the lawyers were happy that I had done some of that work for them because they could get to the meat of the issue quicker. I spent more time asking questions and getting answers instead of watching a lawyer crunch numbers.

Most attorneys are not going to spend a lot of time going through a stack of documents during an initial consultation. I brought a list of questions and a spreadsheet listing my income & deductions for the last 6 months, my monthly expenses, my debts (balance due and monthly payment) and the value of my car and homes. I emailed it to the attorneys before my appointments and some ran my numbers before I got there. The one who didn't run the numbers, had the spreadsheet printed and was able to quickly see my financial situation and estimate what my Chap 13 payment would be.

Other than the spreadsheet, I didn't bring any documents to consultations. When you retain an attorney, they will give you a list of the documents you need to give them. Having a spreadsheet that consolidated the relevant information in one place instead of a stack of pay stubs and statements made for very productive consultations.

[btbeme]

I brought a printed sheet that summarized each debt amount, what it was, and date of last charge. Below that I summarized each major asset (secured and unsecured) with balances owed, etc. I brought a copy of a "twenty questions" sheet that one attorney gave me as homework before visiting him. That sheet asked (and I answered) almost every question my subsequent attorneys asked me. I also brought a completed copy of an online Means Test that I printed out - each atty was very interested in what I plugged in to that test. Two year's tax returns. Paystubs from last 2 months. I also had copies of how I valued each secured asset (cars, house, etc) so the atty could see that I did my homework and wasn't just shooting blindly. Some looked, some didn't look at them.

Having the summary and the questions answered greatly helped my attorney interviews go quickly, so we could focus on the nuances on my particular case. It was those nuances, in fact, that helped me determine the right atty for my case (which was somewhat complex) and I am thankful that I had solid basic info to present so we didn't waste time wondering if I was going to be able to "fly" my Ch 7. I interviewed 13 attorneys.