Paper work for filing

[jacksinn]

I havent been to a lawyer yet. Newbie here. What paper work is needed like pay stubs, bank statements? If so how far back?

[UghUghUgh]

You need to get with your own attorney. If you do not have one yet you will want to search out the sticky on how to pick a good one. Also I believe CCSjoe recently posted a thread about this. All attorneys seem to want similar yet different stuff. lol Clear as mud eh?

MY lawyer asked me to bring for next week (and this will be my first actual meeting with him):

2008 and 2009 tax returns
Last 6 months of pay-stubs for anyone filing.
My latest vehicle loan statement
the latest statement for all credit cards.

I am sure there will be more eventually but this enough for him to tell me if Ch7 or Ch13 and then we go from there. Hope all goes well with you.

[ccsjoe]

Hi there,

First and foremost, write down what is important to you from an attorney. He/she needs to have your back, how promptly do you want answers, how do you communicate, what are the expectations, is he/she well known to the trustees, etc? Ugh is correct, there is a thread started by me "the importance of a good attorney".

Once you're done, find local attorneys and schedule free consults. That gives you a chance to interview them. A lot of them will want you to fill out a pre-bk questionnaire with basic info about you, your income, debt, etc. Something usually 6 or 7 pages long that they can quickly scan and assess whether they can handle your case.

Once you've gone through the free consults and chosen an attorney you feel most comfortable and represented with, then you will have a 50+page questionnaire and documents will be requested of you. Usually past couple years tax returns, 6 or 7 months pay stubs, 3 months cc statements, etc.

But first things first...know what is important to you in an attorney, and hit those free consults.

[kartoons19]

To follow up on Joe's comment, when I first went to an attorney, I brought a list of creditors, including how much was owed to each, my income, asset information and approximate expenses. I didn't bring any pay stubs or bills at this time. Just a copy of a spreadsheet with this infomration on it. All of my figures were just an approximation. This helps the attorney get an idea of your financial picture and advise you on your situation.

Once I retained my attorney, she gave me a list of documents to gather, plus questionnaire book, although mine was a lot smaller than Joe's! Good luck to you.

[4ever]

We have one more retainer payment to make to our lawyer and then we have to bring in all of the above mentioned things and he also told us to save every receipt and write down everything we buy and how much it is. Also to list Everything we own and the value. And then bring ALL those things in with us for our first real meeting with him.