Debt Settlement Attorneys

As a local debt settlement lawyer, we work with a lot of seniors that are in a financial jam and don’t know what to do.  If you have worked your entire life, are now retired and unable to make ends meet – we can help.  We understand that this can be frustrating and even embarrassing, but it is actually fairly common.  No matter how hard you try to plan for the future, things can happen that change everything.  For example, your retirement payments may be less than you thought they would be, or an investment may have gone bad.  Some seniors get into jams because they have to help care for adult children or grandkids.  These are responsibilities that you could not have planned for that can have a negative impact anyway.

Chapter 7

If you own your home free and clear or have a lot of equity, filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is probably not a good idea. Instead, a Chapter 13 can help you to pay off some of your debts in a more manageable way while preventing your creditors from coming after you for the remaining debt.  During a Chapter 13, you won’t have to worry about collection calls or the stress that can come with them.

Chapter 13

In order to start the process of filing for a Chapter 13, we will need to meet with you to learn more about your financial situation.  We need to know how much money you make and where it comes from along with how much you owe, who you owe it to, and what your monthly payments are.  We will also need to know about all of your other monthly expenses.  This includes everything like what you spend on medication, the payments you make for a grandchild’s daycare, your grocery bill, cell phone payment, etc.  If the money goes out of your account for something, we want to know about it.  As bankruptcy and debt settlement lawyers, we will use this information to determine what you can afford to pay on a monthly basis.

If you would prefer to avoid filing bankruptcy, we can also contact your creditors and try to settle outside of court.  This may require making lump sum payments so consider what you are willing or able to do.  At times, they are agreeable which will allow you to have less of a debt burden without impacting your credit by completing a bankruptcy filing.

If they will not accept a compromise, then we can move forward and present your Chapter 13 repayment plan to the court.  In this plan, we will explain what you can afford to pay towards debts on a monthly basis and why.  Your creditors will have the opportunity to respond and challenge this which makes it important to back up your claims with facts, statements, etc. As a bankruptcy and debt settlement lawyer, we will present your case both in negotiations with creditors and in court, in order to show why you need to be allowed to settle and how it is also in the best interest of your creditors to do so.  If you need help, give us a call.