Before consulting with a bankruptcy attorney, it will be helpful to know that there are four main types of bankruptcy: Chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13. Only two, chapters 7 and 13 are personal bankruptcy options. The remaining two forms of bankruptcy, chapters 11 and 12 and for corporations and agricultural purposes respectively.
The first step you will want to take when choosing a bankruptcy attorney in the Kansas City area is finding out the practice areas of your attorney. Some attorneys practice specifically in bankruptcy related matters. Other attorneys have a more general practice where they may cover several practice areas with bankruptcy being one of many.
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Other attorneys may have a general practice but they want to try bankruptcy out because of the recent developments in the economy. If this is the case and the attorney is a solo-practitioner, you will want to make sure that you ask if the attorney has a reference source by which he or she is able to get help concerning the things he or she may not know. The practice of bankruptcy law is extremely intricate and sometimes the slightest mistake can be the difference between whether the debtor receives a discharge or a dismissed case.
The next thing a potential debtor will want to know is which type of bankruptcy law the attorney practices. Again, there are some attorneys who concentrate specifically on chapter 7 bankruptcy work. Those attorneys may choose to concentrate on chapter 7 work because it is less complicated than the chapter 13 work. Generally, chapter 7 debtors will not have substantial assets and they are procedurally less tenuous than a chapter 13. This does not mean that there are Kansas City Bankruptcy attorneys, who concentrate on Chapter 7 bankruptcy law, who take chapter 13 cases.
Another valuable piece of information that a potential bankruptcy debtor will want to discover is whether the attorney will appear with the debtor at the meeting of creditors. Once the paper work has been completed and the documents have been filed with the Bankruptcy Court, the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri will schedule what is called a 341 meeting.
This meeting is also referred to as "The First Meeting of Creditors." It will be the first opportunity for the debtor to meet with the bankruptcy trustee and to confront any creditors who may want to prevent the bankruptcy from occurring. The attorney may not be privy to anyone wanting to challenge the discharge of the debtor before the meeting of creditors.
If the debtor's attorney is not able to appear at the meeting of creditors, a replacement attorney will need to be selected. The debtor not having an attorney is generally not a good idea because the trustee may want certain documents sent to the trustee's office within a short period of time or the trustee may have more specific questions that the debtor may not be able to answer.
If this were to happen, the debtor would need an attorney there who has a copy of the bankruptcy petition. Generally when a debtor attempts to conduct a meeting of creditors without the presence of an attorney, the debtor will not have all the information to adequately satisfy the inquiries of the trustee.
The next thing that a potential debtor will want to know when potentially choosing a Kansas City bankruptcy attorney is what is included in the attorney fee. This may vary from attorney to attorney. Generally, the attorney fee will be a flat fee that will include the bankruptcy petition filing fee. Currently, this fee is $300. However, the list of attorney duties could vary. Some attorneys will cover everything from start to finish with the fee that is paid.
Other attorneys may charge an additional fee if the petition has to be amended or if the trustee requires meetings outside of the meeting of creditors. Generally these fees will be covered in the contract for legal representation. If they are not, the potential debtor will want to discuss these issues with the potential Kansas City bankruptcy attorney.
These are a few things that a potential debtor will want to investigate when choosing a Kansas City bankruptcy attorney. The choice of an attorney is an important one and it should not be based solely on advertisement alone.
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