What to take to initial lawyer consultation?

[Humonese]

I'm meeting with a lawyer on Tuesday, I can't take being so far underwater anymore. I'm on unemployment now and have been paying over $1000 a month to credit cards for years and making no progress. I have a job, but the pay is very low and won't get better any time soon.

I plan on taking:
* each of my last credit card bills
* the amount I owe on each car and its current value
* the house amount still owed on mortgage and approximate value.

Anything else I should be taking?

[keepmine]

I'd include your last 6 months of pay stubs.
Call the lawyers office and ask the para if anything else is needed.

[Trixie007]

Rather than taking all the statements, I took a spreadsheet! I had a 12 mo history of all cc's, my estimated means test, estimated schedule I/J, and a list of questions I had about anything that I worried might be a red flag in our case. Hmmm... a bit OCD I know... Then at my final consult, I went empty handed! By then I knew my numbers fairly well, and only had a handful of unanswered questions.

One thing I found very helpful in determining who to hire: I also asked each attorney a few questions that I already knew the answers to. How else do you know if they know their stuff?

[2Bshinyandnew]

Rather than taking all the statements, I took a spreadsheet! I had a 12 mo history of all cc's, my estimated means test, estimated schedule I/J, and a list of questions I had about anything that I worried might be a red flag in our case. Hmmm... a bit OCD I know... Then at my final consult, I went empty handed! By then I knew my numbers fairly well, and only had a handful of unanswered questions.

One thing I found very helpful in determining who to hire: I also asked each attorney a few questions that I already knew the answers to. How else do you know if they know their stuff?

YES! exactly. It's a good idea to get your financial "house" in order anyway, but ultimately a spreadsheet prepared before the appt. will make it easy for the attorney you are interviewing to get a good idea of your situation without having to shuffle papers and pull out a calculator. The consults are interviews, and if you feel better having all your paystubs with you, that would be fine, but your last paystub will likely have your YTD info anyway.

Some questions I should have asked the attorney's I interviewed and did not were:
"how many active bankruptcy cases do you currently have?"
"how many open cases on average are you handling each month?"
"how many bankruptcy cases did you handle in 2008?"


I might even ask, if I was feeling feisty "and of those how many were dismissed? Discharged, or has a favorable outcome"?

[Humonese]

Good info already!

Where can I get this?:

my estimated means test, estimated schedule I/J

I'm in PA.

[HHM]

You don't really need to bring anything to the initial consultation.

But a spreadsheet with :
Creditors, how much you owe
House, how much you owe, balance due
Cars, How much you owe, balance due
A list of any other meaningful assets, 401K, Whole Life Insurance, IRA etc
A basic breakdown of your monthly expenses
Gross Income per month.

[Humonese]

I'm still a little confused as to whether I can file by myself when only separated from my wife yet living under the same roof by necessity, so I guess I'll know on Tuesday. She has no interest in filing for bankruptcy, her finances are fine.

[Humonese]

Lawyer canceled and pushed back to tonight, nice to add delay to the stress. Thinking about this is exhausting, I need some answers from him!

Where can I get "my estimated means test, estimated schedule I/J"?

[OhioFiler]

Lawyer canceled and pushed back to tonight, nice to add delay to the stress. Thinking about this is exhausting, I need some answers from him!

Where can I get "my estimated means test, estimated schedule I/J"?

http://www.uscourts.gov/bankruptcycourts.html

You'll find ALL the forms there.

[Humonese]

Excellent, thanks!

[Juls]

Humonese,
How did you initial meeting go? I am meeting with the first attorney tomorrow and just keep writting down any questions I have so I don't forget to ask.

Juls

[BDG]

Hey guys.......
Relax!!!
Aint nutting but a thing!!

One of the things I read on here somewheres that made me
relax a bit, also not feel so guilty is"
Just need to realize it is a business decision...
Something that has got to be done.
At the end of the day I still have a bed to go to
my belly aint hungry and I am still sucking air.
Then that day wasnt all that bad.

You will get through this.........

[BDG]

Easy to say after ya down a sixer!!!
LOL

Good Day everyone!