All of your pesky bills magically disappear and you are able to spend your money without being bothered by consequences!!!
(Well, not exactly. If a bankruptcy attorney tells you that, you probably want to find a new one.)
The first thing that happens when you hire a bankruptcy attorney to file in Arkansas is the “automatic stay.” As you might have guessed, the court issues this automatically. The automatic stay means that (with some exceptions) creditors have to leave you alone. If your wages are being garnished, you can stop that. If you’re being sued over a bad debt, you can stop that. If your house is being foreclosed on, you can even stop that.
The automatic stay is like a time-out for your finances. It allows the Arkansas bankruptcy court enough time to hear from everyone and determine what the plan will be.
If your creditors continue to contact you after the automatic stay, they can face heavy penalties and potential lawsuits for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You should definitely tell your bankruptcy attorney if that happens. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could pay off your creditors with their own money? Now that is justice.
Within approximately one month of filing your case in Arkansas Bankruptcy Court, you will have a creditors’ meeting. (This is also called a 341 meeting under bankruptcy jargon.) Again, as you might have guessed, this is a meeting of all your creditors. Most will not show up, but they’re invited, anyway. Your bankruptcy attorney will be there.
The bankruptcy trustee is the person who oversees your Arkansas bankruptcy, and he or she will run the meeting. They will ask you a lot of questions to see if you have property that might be sold to satisfy your debts. They will also ask questions about why you are filing. The creditors, if they are there, can also ask similar questions.
If you have provided all the correct paperwork and documentation for your Arkansas bankruptcy, your part is basically done. Before the bankruptcy is final, you will need to attend another debtor education class. The bankruptcy trustee will create a plan to get rid of your debt, which will be given to the judge. If there are no objections from any creditors within 60 days, your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is over.
Life happens, and that’s why there are Ch. 7 Bankruptcy laws on the books. If you need relief from your debt, please call us. We can help.
