Paying Attorney In Advance Of Filing

[nioka]

I am waiting until foreclosure proceedings to file chapter 7. I have talked to a few attorneys and selected the one I will hire. I was told by the attorney that I intend to hire to stop by if I had anymore questions.

I am preparing my paperwork and getting it in order. I stopped by and spoke with this attorney's assistant to see if there was anything else I could do to prepare. She was very helpful and told me the only thing left is for me to file. I also told her I intended to wait until foreclosure to file. She also suggested I start making payments rather than wait to pay the full charge for services. At first I thought making monthly payments would be a good idea. However, as I many here at BK forum have said it could take some time for the bank to foreclose. This was also echoed by a Bank Currier who came by to verify occupancy and take photos. She told me that with my bank foreclosures would take at least a year.

Is it a good idea for me to make monthly payments for my attorney's fees or should I wait and pay it all at one time? Or doesn't it matter?

Thanks.

[despritfreya]

As an attny I would much prefer that the client pay the fees shortly before filing. Reasons:

1. While I can take creditor calls, at some point it becomes too burdensome and forces me to up my fee. In addition, since I cannot stop a creditor until the case is filed, fending off calls for more than a couple of months is useless.

2. If I am paid a year before the filing and the "client" decides not to file I now have to spend time reviewing my time records to determine what, if anything, I must return. This takes more time than it is worth.

3. From the debtor's point of view, what happens if, in that year, the attny goes out of business. Kiss that money goodbye.

If it were me, I would put the $$ away and not pay the retainer until I was much closer (say 2 months) to the filing date. Also, those worksheets you filled out. . . pretty much useless a year from now. You will need to redo them to update all information.

Des.

[nioka]

despritfreya,

Thanks for the post.

I should have mentioned that I told the attorney's assistant I was concerned about amassing too much cash prior to my filing. (I have SS and small pension and not paying CC's, mortgage or HOA fees). She then suggested I pay the fees on a monthly basis. However, I agree with you that I have no control over what could happen to this attorney and therefore could lose the money I paid.

[kilowatt]

Hi I will be filing in about 4 months. I am stopping payments to my creditors and I'm saving that money to pay my lawyer. The same day I pay her is the same day I will move forward with filing. I think it is the best and safest way to go. Getting into payments can cause problems especially if you are dealing with one attorney that could get sick or have an accident and then how long before the lawyers estate releases that money?