Legal Question in Bankruptcy in United States Minor Outlying Islands

Re: bankruptcy

Every state has an agency that handles poverty cases for a reduced fee or no fee, but you have to meet their income guidelines. Generally, the less income you have, the more likely you are to meet their guidelines. These attorneys are not acting out of the goodness of their hearts; they are paid in a manner that most people don't realize exists. Lawyers in general have escrow accounts, and those escrow accounts bear interest. The money in them belongs to clients, not to the lawyer, and the state simply skims the interest off every month and puts it into a fund for this very purpose. Thus, this is NOT charity.

In New York, the agency is the Legal Aid Society; look for your county's branch in the Yellow Pages, or you can do a GOOGLE� search for them.

The court will have to be paid its fees, by you, but those fees are, for a Chapter 7 liquidation, $299, and for a Chapter 13 reorganization, $274, and you can pay those fees in installments.

If you don't qualify for the free/reduced-fee legal help, you're not likely to find an attorney who will handle your case for a reduced fee. However, many of us, including me, are willing to work with our lower-income clients to take payments in installments. I don't file a case until I and the court are paid in full, and I'd be surprised to meet a lawyer who does, but we do realize that bankruptcy is a tough place to be and are willing to work with our clients to some extent.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HANDLE A BANKRUPTCY PETITION WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention Act became the law of the land, bankruptcy has become full of snares for the unwary. The court will NOT tell you about them, nor will the Trustee, and you are almost guaranteed to fall into one or another of them, with evil consequences, if you go this route without good legal help.

If I can help you with this matter, please give my office a call to set up a NO-OBLIGATION, FREE HALF-HOUR appointment (note that half an hour is 30 minutes, not 31 minutes).

Good luck.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS POSTING DOES NOT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.