Bankruptcy Process Oklahoma City, OK
The bankruptcy process begins by identifying whether bankruptcy addresses the issues that you and your family are experiencing. The best way to figure this out is by consulting with an Oklahoma City Bankruptcy law firm like Marty Martin Bankruptcy Law. We will typically ask that you bring in recent paystubs so that we can determine what type of bankruptcy you qualify for. The reason that paystubs are important is that there are limits to the amount of income someone can make to qualify for the easiest type of bankruptcy, Ch.7. We will average out your income over the past 6 months and conduct a means test which will tell us if you qualify.
After the consultation, if it is determined that bankruptcy is the right choice for you, you will be instructed to gather up additional documents like your most recent 6 months of bank statements, your most recent 2 years of tax returns and copies of your automobile titles. We will also acquire your credit report so that we will know what your debts are and the creditors that need to be notified of the filing of your case. All of these documents will serve to fill in all the details to the petition that will be filed in your case. The petition contains a list of the things that you own, a list of your creditors, a budget of your income and expenses as well as a few other forms. Once I have received all of the necessary documents, I can usually have the petition ready for your review in a week or so. You will review the petition and make any necessary changes then sign once you agree with all that is contained in the petition. At that point, we will file your petition electronically with the bankruptcy court. The court then contacts all of your creditors, alerting them of your filing and of the rules that they must adhere to such as taking no further collections efforts against you. Keep in mind that we can file the case and halt any further collection efforts even if you have been sued or garnished.
The court will also set a hearing in your case called the meeting of creditors hearing or 341 hearing. This meeting typically occurs a month or so after you filed. The hearing is an informal meeting designed for creditors to ask questions of you. In practice, however, creditors very rarely attend the hearing. What usually is the case is that a person assigned to administer your case, called a trustee, will ask you a few questions regarding whether you had supplied the information in the paperwork and whether you agreed with all of the content. The hearing typically lasts no more than 5 minutes. After the hearing, you will have another couple of months of waiting time until you receive your discharge – the ultimate prize. While your creditors are not allowed to take any actions against you while you are going through the process, the discharge bars them permanently.
At Marty Marin Law, our goal is to make the bankruptcy process as easy as possible. No one enjoys going through the bankruptcy, but we try to make it as smooth and painless as possible. It is our experience that most of our clients find in the end that the process was a lot less difficult than they may have thought and are thrilled with peace that they have by not having the debt dragging down their lives. Please give us a call to see if bankruptcy can be your debt removal tool.
Client Review
“Very professional. I messed up a couple times, but she walked me back through the process again, for a small fee of course. Fault of my own. Highly recommended.”
John D.
