No matter who you choose, you are going to have to do some leg work.
For example, our case required us to pass the means test. We wanted to keep our vehicles and it meant staying under the allowed exemption for our state. When I gave the attorney the estimated value of the vehicles, he stated that as a trustee he would have doubted the numbers and probably disallowed the exemption and auctioned one of the vehicles. He said that the trustees used a local auction house to get the value of and to liquidate vehicles and other property. He recommended that I go pay a $45 per vehicle fee and get an accurate estimate from the auction house. I did, and when the 341 hearing came about, the trustee questioned the value of the vehicles and my attorney stated that the values came from estimates by the auction house. No more was said about the vehicles and we were allowed to keep them. His guidance as a trustee and attorney helped us to overcome that obstacle.
But it is still up to you, and the more knowledge that you have of BK will help you immensely. The best knowledge I gained came from a downloadable book called Bankruptcy Strategies by Dave Clark, an attorney. It was available for $37 and had an immediate .pdf download. I don't have enough posts to include a link, but you can google it. I'm not a shill for the information, and I don't really care if anyone uses it or not. It's just that I was desperate for information, and I took a chance on an online book. It was really good, and prepared me well. My attorney was impressed with how much I knew qualifying for CH7. I did not want to get forced into a CH13. His book gave a lot of information about what would and would not be allowed.
I also used nolo.com for means tests calculations. You can google the link there as well. I was able to run all of my means tests for free and knew I could pass before I ever met with the attorney. Many attorneys want straight forward cases where means tests are not required. I wanted someone who understood it well and was willing to work with me.
Sorry for the long post. Hope the information helps.
For example, our case required us to pass the means test. We wanted to keep our vehicles and it meant staying under the allowed exemption for our state. When I gave the attorney the estimated value of the vehicles, he stated that as a trustee he would have doubted the numbers and probably disallowed the exemption and auctioned one of the vehicles. He said that the trustees used a local auction house to get the value of and to liquidate vehicles and other property. He recommended that I go pay a $45 per vehicle fee and get an accurate estimate from the auction house. I did, and when the 341 hearing came about, the trustee questioned the value of the vehicles and my attorney stated that the values came from estimates by the auction house. No more was said about the vehicles and we were allowed to keep them. His guidance as a trustee and attorney helped us to overcome that obstacle.
But it is still up to you, and the more knowledge that you have of BK will help you immensely. The best knowledge I gained came from a downloadable book called Bankruptcy Strategies by Dave Clark, an attorney. It was available for $37 and had an immediate .pdf download. I don't have enough posts to include a link, but you can google it. I'm not a shill for the information, and I don't really care if anyone uses it or not. It's just that I was desperate for information, and I took a chance on an online book. It was really good, and prepared me well. My attorney was impressed with how much I knew qualifying for CH7. I did not want to get forced into a CH13. His book gave a lot of information about what would and would not be allowed.
I also used nolo.com for means tests calculations. You can google the link there as well. I was able to run all of my means tests for free and knew I could pass before I ever met with the attorney. Many attorneys want straight forward cases where means tests are not required. I wanted someone who understood it well and was willing to work with me.
Sorry for the long post. Hope the information helps.
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