Question Did you make payments to your lawyer

[teresah]

My husband and I have our first initial meeting with our Lawyer on Aug. 27. First visit will cost is 125, then I need to come up with $1,800 to file. The lawyers secretary told me that we can make payments, will not be able to file until its paid. I figure we will have it paid the second week of november. Two questions:

1. Did anyone make payments for the lawyers fine and if so, how long did it take for you to pay off??

2. What will happen to me with the bills I am behind on??

[ccsjoe]

Yes, I made payment arrangements with my lawyer, free initial consult, $400 retainer, $1200 prior to filing. Fortunatel, my cc payments were high enough that it is only taking us one month to pay the 1200 since we stopped paying the cc's.

As far as payments you fall behind on, cc's will call, tell them you're experiencing some hardship but at this point in time, intend to try and bring account current. Once you actually retained your attorney and are 100% sure of filing, then you can tell them that you will be filing and to call your attorney.

Secured debt, such as car loans or mortgages, you will need to decide what to do (retain or not) and if you will attempt to reaffirm the debt or not. Whatever you decide, if you want to retain the property (car, whatever) stay current on your payments.

[Bell30656]

I actually filed Chapter 7 and my lawyer at his suggestion not mine, charged me $600 when I retained him and $600 more the day of the 341. That included the filing fees.

[BKDebby]

I met with my lawyer the first time in June for free, then I quit paying my cc's immediately and saved that money up to pay the lawyer. Around every 3 weeks I take some cash down to him. From the first payment I made, at that point I started referring the bill collectors to him. I figured they would keep calling until the actual filing date but no one has bothered to call again. I plan on paying him off in September, and filing then.

Mine is costing $1199.00, no asset Chapter 7. That fee includes his fee, the filing fee, and the credit counseling. I'm keeping my mortgage and my new car (he told me to buy a new car before filing as this was the best time to do so--I was driving a 13 year old car that was falling apart).

[MSbklawyer]

1. Did anyone make payments for the lawyers fine and if so, how long did it take for you to pay off??

For his what? His fine? You musta just got a traffic ticket?

[TwentyTwelve]

My initial consult was free. I paid in two installments. 1st payment was 900, 2nd was 600. It took me about 3 weeks to pay it all (used my tax return and got the rest from my next paycheck). The lawyer did not have any sort of payment plan. Basically you just paid whatever whenever you could until you paid off the balance. He would not file until he had been paid in full, which I can completely understand.

[Maine]

I had a free consult then paid the $1500 in 3 installments. No payment plan, just pay when you can and when you are paid we can file it. It took me about a month to pay it all, last $500 I handed in today. We are filing next week. (Lawyer would not file until paid in full.)

I had $500 in the bank, and took $500 out of the next 2 paychecks. Mostly from my grocery and utility budget. I had a bunch of food in the cupboards, and all my utilities were caught up, so they were not made late by doing this. I will be playing catch up again for a few weeks now.

[nokia123]

my lawyer wanted 300 down and told me to make payments when ever i can.

[DebtHater]

My lawyer required full payment prior to filing. He told us not even to refer the creditors to him until this was done. Being all creditors must be listed in the BK petition, if the lawyer was not paid in full at the time of filing, then the lawyer would have to be added to the BK petition.

[stormy]

My consultation was free; gave him $200 that day. He said he would file my bankruptcy once I paid him $850 which I paid by the first of August. The remaining $650 is being spread out over the next 6 months at a agreed payment of $100/month. Of course I can pay him off earlier which I will; I've already sent him another $100 so now my balance is $550. His total fee was $1500 for a Chapter 7

[tobee43]

For his what? His fine? You musta just got a traffic ticket?

i think the OP meant "fee"....

even tho we had the money, i also made certain the attorney we hired realized just how broke we were....so i told him i could only make small payments monthly.

i only gave him between $100-$200 a month until the "fee" ($1200) was paid in full...for two reasons:

1. i needed every dime for our move when we surrendered our home
2. to put in as much time between any "spending" and our filing date.


by doing this, i would inform the creditors that i have "retained" an attorney for bk, but am too poor to even pay him...so how can i pay you! i had a GREAT attorney that said....have them call our office, of just give them our number and we will handle them for you....EVEN tho we had NOT completed payment to him.

by the time be actually filed it was well over 1 and 1/2 years that ANY cc had been used for any reason.

[helpmeout]

I made payments to my attorney. The initial consult, which was a little over 30 minutes was free (and I would request this of the one you are meeting with). I didn't consult with a lot of lawyers (I recommend at least 3 free consults before settling on one), but I was lucky and got a good one. The other attorney was just a phone consult, he was cheaper but I got the impression that he wouldn't have fought my case if necessary.

I couldn't give out his phone number or get the paperwork to complete until I had paid at least a $200 retainer. I then switched bank accounts to a different bank than the one who held my mortgage (I recommend switching bank accounts to a bank that you don't owe money to before you miss any payments) and stopped paying my mortgage. Since I was giving up the house anyway, I used the money to pay the attorney.

Also, I continued ignoring the collection calls until I was within 2 weeks of filing. Then I took the calls and told them about the BK. The phones, including my cell, have been quiet ever since.

[kartoons19]

After the free consult, which lasted 90 minutes, I paid a $500 retainer fee. I gave all of my creditors her contact info and from that point on my phone has been quiet. I filed a month later. Her payment plan was $500 every month until the $1999 (includes filing fee) was paid. I ended up paying sooner. She was unable to file until paid in full.

[DEBTCHAINS]

Geez, did I over pay? $3300 total. But, loved my lawyer, I have ZERO complaints.

[kartoons19]

Geez, did I over pay? $3300 total. But, loved my lawyer, I have ZERO complaints.

My attorney is MIA all of the sudden, so maybe I should have paid more!