Category: Filing for Bankruptcy

What are my options for paying my bankruptcy filing fee?

Posted on by Sean Wood in Bankruptcy, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Court Filing Fee, Fee Waiver, Fees, Filing for Bankruptcy

Short answer: (1) pay in full, (2) pay in installments, or (3) apply for a fee waiver.

1. Pay in full21 Cash Register

This is the easy option for both me and for the client. When you make a payment to my firm for the attorney’s fees you also make payment for the filing fee. Paying in full makes it easier for me because I don’t have to worry about reminding the client to pay the filing fee. It’s also easier for the client because there is nothing else you have to do.

2. Pay in installments

Coming up with the money for attorney’s fees can be difficult when you are considering bankruptcy. Fortunately, the Court allows you to pay the filing fee in three installments. You don’t even have to pay the first installment when you file.

What the Court does require is that you make your first payment two weeks within two weeks of filing, the second payment within two weeks after the first payment, and the third payment within four weeks of the second payment.

Let me use an example. Let’s say you filed chapter 7 bankruptcy on Monday, February 1, 2016. The total amount for the filing fee is $335.00. Your first payment is due on or before February 15, 2016. Your second payment would be two weeks after that, on Monday, February 29, 2016, Leap Day (watch out for Leap Day William). Your third and final payment would be due four weeks later on Monday, March 28, 2016.

Below is a table showing how this works.

Payment Date Amount
File Bankruptcy February 1, 2016 $0.00
1st Payment February 15, 2016 $110.00
2nd Payment February 29, 2016 $110.00
3rd Payment March 28, 2016 $115.00

3. Apply for fee waiver

The last way to pay for your filing fee is to not pay at all. If you meet the guidelines then you file what is called the “Application to Have the Chapter 7 Filing Fee Waived”. This is only available to chapter 7 debtors; it is not available to chapter 13 debtors.

There are several factors the Court considers when deciding to grant or deny your application for fee waiver. The most important factor, however, is your income. If your monthly income is 150% or less of the poverty level for the number of people in your household then the Court will likely grant your application for fee waiver. I covered this in more detail in an earlier post.

Talk to your attorney about which payment method is best for you.

Bankruptcy Filing Fees Increasing June 1, 2014

Posted on by Sean Wood in Bankruptcy, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Filing for Bankruptcy

I received an email update from Kevin R. Anderson, the chapter 13 trustee, which states that certain filing fees will be going up on June 1, 2014. The important parts state the following:

[T]he “administrative fee” charged at the filing of every Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case increases to $75 (from $46); a new fee of $75 will be charged to divide a joint case under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13; the filing fee for an adversary proceeding increases to $350 (from $293).

Currently the total filing fee for a chapter 7 is $306 and the total filing fee for a chapter 13 is $281. It appears that administrative fee, which is part of the total fee, is increasing by $29. This means that the filing fee for a chapter 7 will increase from $306 to $335 and the filing fee for a chapter 13 will increase from $281 to $310.

How do I download my taxes from the IRS?

Posted on by Sean Wood in Bankruptcy, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Filing for Bankruptcy, Taxes

6355404323_ac5691e105_oAs a bankruptcy attorney I feel like I am always chasing down documents. There are a number of documents that need to be gathered and filed as part of your bankruptcy whether it is chapter 7 or chapter 13. Most documents that are needed to be filed with a bankruptcy, like taxes and pay stubs, are given to me in paper form.

When I get these documents from my clients I have to scan them to my computer and make sure they are in PDF format because everything that is filed now, whether it is with the federal bankruptcy court or the trustee’s office (in Utah at least) is filed electronically.

Often times clients know that they have filed their taxes but they just can’t remember where they put them or they have lost their taxes. I have good news for all my clients and for everyone filing for bankruptcy and for their attorneys. The IRS has a service called “Get Transcript” that allows you to download your IRS transcripts directly to your computer! This means that if you have a computer, or even probably a smartphone, you can log onto this website, download your IRS transcripts, and forward your transcripts on to your attorney without using a single piece of paper. And the best part about it is that it’s absolutely free.

Links:
“Get Transcript”, download your tax transcripts from the IRS

Do I need to hire a bankruptcy attorney?

Posted on by Sean Wood in Attorney Skills, Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy Attorney, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Filing for Bankruptcy

waterblaster-pressure-washer-gx390The short answer is ‘no’. Anyone can file his or her own bankruptcy. Perhaps the wiser question is ‘should I hire a bankruptcy attorney?’ The short answer is ‘yes’. Allow me to explain.

When I was in college I ran a mobile detailing business with a friend of mine. I borrowed my dad’s pressure washer, bought a truck, and bought the necessary equipment and I went out and found some clients. The business was successful while it lasted but in the end my friend and I ended up at different colleges and we gradually wound up the business.

A couple of years later my dad went to go use the pressure washer on our driveway. When he tried to use the washer, only a weak stream came out. Frustrated, he came to me since I had used the washer so much in the past.

Thinking I was up for the challenge, I decided to have a go at it. The engine seemed to be working just fine so I turned to the pump, a complex copper piece attached to the engine. I was a little nervous but I started taking the pump apart. Inside I found all kinds of pieces that somehow worked together. I tried my best to remember where everything went but there were just too many pieces and I started to forget how to reassemble the machine.

I sat there on the garage floor surrounded by various pieces. I couldn’t find the owner’s manual so I had to download a PDF from the Internet. I ran out of time that Saturday but I thought I had a pretty good idea of which piece needed to be replaced. I emailed the corporate headquarters of the company that made the actual pump and ordered a part from them.

A couple of Saturdays later I found sometime and I attempted to put the pump back together. Needless to say, it took much longer than I had expected. I ran into all kinds of weird mechanical hiccups. Finally, at the end of that Saturday, I was able to put everything back together and I decided to give the pressure washer a test run. I was really hoping the darn thing would work because I had just invested two Saturdays into fixing the washer and I had spent some of my dad’s money buying a new part. If it didn’t work, I was going to be ticked. The moment of truth was here. I fired up the engine and squeezed the trigger. A powerful stream came shooting out of the machine. I was relieved that I didn’t have to spend another Saturday troubleshooting that pressure washer.

Now you might be asking at this point, what does a pressure washer have to with the price of tea in China? More specifically, what does a pressure washer have to do with bankruptcy? I’ll tell you.

There are several repair shops near my house that know how to fix pressure washers. I could have easily taken the washer to one of those shops. It would have been easier. It would have saved me two Saturdays. True, it would have been more expensive. But most importantly, I would be more certain that the job would get done.

Sometimes people ask me if they need an attorney to file bankruptcy. Again, the answer is ‘no’. Generally you don’t need an attorney to represent yourself in legal matters. But I generally would not recommend going at it alone. When I was fixing that pressure washer, I decided to do it on my own because the risk was low. If I didn’t fix the washer, someone else could probably fix it. Even if I destroyed it, we could go buy another one for a couple hundred bucks.

You and your family’s economic well-being is a whole “nother” story. Can you really afford to lose your house or your car? Can you afford to have your wages garnished? Do you really want to roll the dice on these things? Of course you can always re-file should your case get dismissed but there are consequences to filing again. And if you have to file again, you have to pay the filing fee again. At this point, you aren’t really saving much money at all and you have to do all the work. The work takes you longer than it would an attorney because it is something you are new at and you don’t know if you are doing it right. The list goes on and on.

Do you have to hire a bankruptcy attorney? No. Should you hire a bankruptcy attorney? Yes.