A first meeting with a bankruptcy attorney goes better when you walk in with a written list. The questions to ask a bankruptcy attorney before you file fall into a handful of categories: their experience, which chapter fits your situation, what happens to your debts and property, whether anything you’ve done recently could cause trouble, and what the whole thing will cost. Most consultations last 30 to 60 minutes, so a focused list is what turns a stressful hour into a useful one.
How Much of Their Practice Is Bankruptcy
Ask what percentage of the attorney’s caseload is bankruptcy work. A lawyer who spends at least half their time on filings will have sharper instincts about local trustee tendencies and recent rule changes than a general practitioner. Then ask how many cases like yours they’ve handled in the past year. Credit card debt, tax liens, and small-business exposure are different problems, and experience with your specific fact pattern matters.
Ask who actually does the work. At many firms, paralegals prepare the petition and schedules while the attorney handles strategy and court appearances. That’s fine, but you should know which lawyer will represent you at the meeting of creditors and whether it’s the same person sitting across from you now. If your file is going to a junior associate you haven’t met, better to know today.
Do I Qualify for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13
This is the biggest early question. Chapter 7 wipes out most unsecured debts in a matter of months. Chapter 13 sets up a repayment plan lasting three to five years based on your income.1United States Courts. Bankruptcy Basics Which one is available to you depends largely on the means test.
The means test compares your household income over the six full calendar months before filing to the median income for a family of your size in your state.2United States Department of Justice. U.S. Trustee Program – Means Testing Below the median, you generally qualify for Chapter 7. Above it, the test looks at your allowable expenses to decide whether you have enough disposable income to fund a Chapter 13 plan. Bring six months of pay stubs so the attorney can run a preliminary calculation during the consultation.
If you’ve filed before, ask about waiting periods. You can’t get a Chapter 7 discharge if you received one in a case filed within the previous eight years.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge The gap between a prior Chapter 7 and a new Chapter 13 is four years. Between a prior Chapter 13 and a new Chapter 7, it’s six years unless you paid at least 70 percent of unsecured claims in the earlier plan. Those clocks start from the filing date of the previous case, not the discharge date, so bring exact dates.
Which of My Debts Will Actually Go Away
Ask the attorney to go through your specific debts and mark which are dischargeable and which are not. This is where people get the worst surprises. Federal law carves out several categories of debt that generally survive bankruptcy:4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
- Child support and alimony are never dischargeable.
- Recent income taxes typically survive; older tax debts may be dischargeable if returns were filed on time and the tax was assessed more than 240 days before filing.
- Student loans can only be discharged by proving “undue hardship” in a separate court proceeding.
- Debts obtained through fraud or misrepresentation stay with you.
- Debts from willful and malicious injury to a person or property survive.
- Debts for death or personal injury caused by intoxicated driving are not dischargeable.
- Criminal restitution and most government fines remain.
If student loans are a big part of your debt, ask directly whether an undue hardship claim is realistic for you. The standard is demanding, but the Department of Education updated its guidance in recent years to make the analysis more borrower-friendly where expenses exceed income.
Could My Recent Spending or Payments Cause Problems
The trustee will scrutinize your financial activity in the months before filing. Two areas cause the most trouble.
If you charged more than $900 in luxury goods or services to a single creditor within 90 days of filing, or took cash advances totaling more than $1,250 within 70 days, the law presumes those debts were incurred fraudulently.5Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases “Luxury” here means anything not reasonably necessary for you or your family’s support. The presumption can be rebutted, but the creditor can challenge the discharge of those specific debts. Be honest about any large recent charges.
Payments to family members or business partners are a different trap. The trustee can claw back payments to regular creditors within 90 days of filing if those payments gave the creditor more than they’d have received in bankruptcy. For payments to insiders such as relatives, the lookback window is a full year.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 547 – Preferences If you repaid a $5,000 loan from your brother six months ago, the trustee could force him to return that money to the estate. Ask whether any of your recent transactions raise preference concerns and whether waiting a few months to file would help.
What Happens to My House, Car, and Retirement
Ask the attorney to work through your property, one category at a time. The answers depend on exemption laws, which shield a set dollar amount of equity in different types of property. Every state has its own set of exemptions, and some states let you choose between state exemptions and a set of federal exemptions.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 522 – Exemptions
In Chapter 7, the trustee can sell any property where your equity exceeds the applicable exemption. If you own a car worth $15,000 free and clear and your state’s vehicle exemption caps at $5,000, the trustee can sell the car, give you $5,000, and distribute the rest to creditors.8United States Courts. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Basics In Chapter 13, you keep your property, but your plan must pay unsecured creditors at least as much as they’d have received from a liquidation. Ask for an estimate of your exposure after the attorney reviews your asset values against local exemptions.
Retirement accounts get separate treatment. Employer plans like 401(k)s are generally protected regardless of value, and IRAs are protected up to a high threshold. Confirm that your specific accounts qualify.
Which Collection Actions Will Stop
The automatic stay takes effect the moment your petition is filed. It halts lawsuits, wage garnishments, foreclosure proceedings, repossession attempts, collection calls, and virtually all other creditor actions against you or your property.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay Ask which of the specific actions you’re facing will actually stop.
The stay has limits. Secured creditors can ask the court to lift it, particularly if they can show they aren’t being adequately protected. If you’re behind on a car loan and the vehicle is losing value, the lender may file a motion for relief. Ask how likely that is in your case and what you can do to head it off.
If you’ve had a bankruptcy case dismissed in the past year, the stay in a new filing only lasts 30 days unless the court extends it. If two or more prior cases were dismissed in the past year, you may get no automatic stay at all.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay Flag any prior filings at the start of the meeting.
What Happens to People Who Co-Signed With Me
If anyone co-signed a loan or credit account with you, ask what happens to them. In Chapter 7, your discharge doesn’t protect the co-signer. The creditor can and will pursue them for the full remaining balance. This blindsides many filers, particularly when a parent co-signed a car loan or a spouse is jointly liable on cards.
Chapter 13 offers more protection. A co-debtor stay prevents creditors from collecting on consumer debts from your co-signer while your repayment plan is active, as long as the plan proposes to pay that debt.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1301 – Stay of Action Against Codebtor If the plan doesn’t cover the debt, or you default on payments, the creditor can ask the court to lift the stay. Ask whether Chapter 13 is worth choosing specifically to protect a co-signer, even if you’d otherwise qualify for Chapter 7.
How Long Will This Take and What Do I Have to Do
Ask for a realistic timeline. A straightforward Chapter 7 case typically wraps up in three to four months from filing to discharge. Chapter 13 lasts the full length of the repayment plan, three to five years depending on whether your income is above or below the state median.1United States Courts. Bankruptcy Basics Asset disputes, creditor objections, and paperwork problems can stretch either timeline.
Every individual filer must complete two educational courses. A credit counseling session before you file, and a debtor education course after filing but before discharge.11United States Department of Justice. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Information Skipping either can get your case dismissed or block your discharge.12United States Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses Ask which approved providers the attorney recommends and whether the cost is included in their fee.
About a month after filing, you’ll attend a meeting of creditors, or 341 meeting. It isn’t a court hearing and no judge is present. A trustee runs the meeting and asks you questions under oath about your petition, income, expenses, and property.13United States Department of Justice. Section 341 Meeting of Creditors Almost all 341 meetings are now held virtually on Zoom. Ask whether the attorney will attend with you and how to prepare.
Ask for the document checklist early. Expect to pull together pay stubs covering at least 60 days before filing, two years of federal tax returns, statements for every bank, retirement, and investment account, titles for vehicles and real estate, and a complete list of debts and assets. Incomplete or inaccurate schedules are one of the most common reasons cases go sideways.
What Is This Going to Cost, All In
Get the total, not just the attorney’s fee.
Court filing fees are set federally: $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13.14United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule Ask whether the attorney’s quote includes these amounts and whether the credit counseling and debtor education fees are covered. Those courses typically run $25 to $50 each.
Most attorneys charge a flat fee for a standard Chapter 7, commonly $800 to $3,000 depending on location and complexity. Chapter 13 fees tend to be higher, but most or all of the fee can be folded into your repayment plan, so you pay it over time rather than upfront. Ask exactly how the fee is structured for each chapter.
For Chapter 7, ask about payment timing. Most attorneys want the full fee before filing, because unpaid pre-petition legal fees become dischargeable once the case is filed. Many firms offer installment payment plans leading up to the filing date.
If your income is very low, ask about a filing fee waiver. The court can waive the Chapter 7 filing fee entirely if your household income falls below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines and you can’t afford to pay in installments.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1930 – Bankruptcy Fees The waiver isn’t available in Chapter 13.
What Does My Life Look Like After Discharge
A bankruptcy filing can remain on your credit report for up to ten years from the date of the order for relief.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports In practice, the three major credit bureaus remove Chapter 13 filings after seven years, though the statutory ceiling is ten. The score hit is severe at first but fades, and many filers see credit offers within a year or two of discharge. Ask what specific steps to take after discharge to rebuild efficiently.
Ask about employment too. Federal law bars government agencies from denying you employment, revoking a professional license, or otherwise discriminating against you solely because you filed. Private employers are barred from firing you or demoting you for the same reason.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 525 – Protection Against Discriminatory Treatment One gap worth knowing: the federal statute doesn’t stop a private employer from refusing to hire you based on a bankruptcy filing. If you’re job hunting in a field that runs background checks, ask how to handle that.
Should I Actually File
Ask the attorney whether you need to file at all. Debt negotiation, a debt management plan through a nonprofit credit counseling agency, or simply waiting out the statute of limitations on old debts might produce a better outcome. If the debts causing you the most stress are the kind that can’t be discharged anyway, filing may create costs and credit damage without solving the underlying problem. A good bankruptcy attorney will tell you that before you sign anything.