The first thing you need to do, and the best way to help yourself, is to put all of your financial information and documents in one place. We cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you get all of your documentation in one place, whether that is a file folder, a USB drive, or storage in the cloud. No bankruptcy attorney can file without having the proper documentation. This is one of the major reasons why a bankruptcy will fail: because the client failed to do their homework for the bankruptcy. Your attorney is very unlikely to be able to do all of this leg work for you. While an attorney can gather a lot of financial information about you, it is not possible to easily gather all of your financial information from an attorney’s desk. We recommend that you gather, at the very least, your last three years of tax returns, your bills, bank account statements, mortgage statements, vehicle information, credit card statements, loan statements, and a copy of a credit report if you have one. After that, it’s time to talk to an attorney about your Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Yes. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will appear on a credit report for 10 years, and your credit is unlikely to be affected in a major way if you already have low credit. In addition, your credit should begin to improve fairly quickly after your bankruptcy is finished, so long as you make good credit decisions. We can help you plan and rebuild. For example, an easy way to improve credit is to obtain a secured credit card. Most clients see a drastic improvement within the first year after completing their bankruptcy.

No, we recommend against doing this. This is likely considered a “fraudulent transfer,” and includes selling an asset to a third party for below market value. This can lead to complications in bankruptcy, including the Trustee requiring you to pay back the value of the asset at fair market value. The bankruptcy petition includes questions about transfers to family members in the last year before filing. Also, since these assets can often be retained, there is no reason to transfer the asset.

Not from us. You lawyers are required to keep all information about your case confidential, except if a disclosure is legally required. The court and your creditors will receive notice about your Chapter 7 bankruptcy, as required by law. In addition, your bankruptcy is a matter of public record, just like the vast majority of court cases.