Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Re: What kind of trouble can I get into for lying to my lawyer?

Well, you could be sent to jail and/or fined thousands of dollars for commiting perjury and bankruptcy fraud. You could be declared ineligible to receive a discharge. You should be fully and completely honest with your attorney, but your attorney should show you the door if you are trying to use him or her to perpetrate a fraud on your creditors or the bankruptcy court.

I don't know of any attorneys that consult with clients strictly over the Internet. You can probably find a local attorney to work with for a reasonable price. I would file before 10/17 because the new laws make it tougher for people to qualify for a Chapter 7 discharge.

Re: What kind of trouble can I get into for lying to my lawyer?

You have already heard from the other attorneys several reasons why you should be honest with your attorney and the bankruptcy court. Now I will add one more. Unlike the example where a person has committed murder and the attorney is bound by law to keep the secret, what you do if you lie in bankruptcy it is an ONGOING act of perjury and an attorney, as an "officer of the court" would be OBLIGATED BY LAW to inform the court. It is more like you telling an attorney you are GOING to commit a crime.

The simple fact is that over the 27 years I have filed bankruptcy cases the times I had clients lie to me and the court they lost their discharges over things that, if they had been honest with me, they would have kept. I have never taken someone as a client that I thought was going to be dishonest. Would you want a dishonest lawyer? The best legal advice I can give you is BE ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY HONEST. I doubt you would like playing tin cup on cell bars at Leavenworth with a cellmate named "Bubba."

As to your 2nd question, I do bankruptcy appointments by phone and your case will be in the Sacramento Bankruptcy court for hearings. You can find out about me by going to my website at ca-bankruptcy-attorneys.com.

If you call my office Monday morning you can get an appointment in the next day or two. They will have you fill out some basic information forms and fax or email them back and we can look at your situation. I am prohibited from giving you my phone number in this posting but you can get it from my web site.

If you are going to file it is ABSOLUTELY URGENT that you do it in the next 2 weeks. Many bankruptcy attorneys are quitting because of the abusive requirements of the new laws and law firms are being swamped with cases. I will soon quit taking new cases in order to make sure the clients I have get their cases filed.

Starting October 17, my fees will go up an added $500-$1,000 more per case for those who can still qualify. The filing fee also is going up 31%.

Call my staff at to set your free consultation but do so ONLY if you are willing to tell me the WHOLE TRUTH and will not hide anything from me.

-- Gary Fraley, CA State Bar Board of Legal Specialization Certified Bankruptcy Specialist.

Re: What kind of trouble can I get into for lying to my lawyer?

You need to be completely honest with your attorney--it's doubtful she'd have to report you to anyone because of attorney/client privilege, but she can't let you provide information to the court that she knows is false.

Even if you keep secrets from her, I'll tell you from past clients' experience that you really don't want to hide anything from the bankruptcy court and bankruptcy trustees--they're a lot better than you think at finding assets and the truth. You may face some jail time, but more likely is losing the property AND not getting your discharge, which is basically getting all the pain of the bankruptcy filing with none of the benefit.

Be honest with your attorney, and you can then evaluate all your options--there are still ways that bankruptcy can work for you even if you have more property than is covered by the exemptions, or perhaps debt negotiation would work for you.

I've seen people get away with more than they should concerning bankruptcy, but the odds are not in your favor.