Best Bankruptcy Lawyers in Syracuse, NY

We have a free phone consultation so we can determine if bankruptcy is right for you. We then set up an appointment to go through your case and gather information. You can then tell creditors you have an attorney so they stop calling and writing you. Once we receive the documents and payment you will take an online credit counseling class and we will file the bankruptcy. There is a court hearing you go to about 30-40 days after the bankruptcy is filed. You will also take a 2nd online class after the bankruptcy is filed. In a chapter 7 bankruptcy you will receive your discharge (debt is wiped away) about 2 months after your court hearing and then start rebuilding your credit (we will give you information on how to do that). In a chapter 13 bankruptcy you start making a payment to the trustee a month after the bankruptcy is filed. Your case is confirmed (the deadline has passed for creditors to object to your repayment plan) about 70 days later and you then start rebuilding your credit (we will give you information on how to do that). You will receive your discharge (debt is wiped away) when your repayment plan is finished (3-5 years).

Not unless you make the decision to. When you file the bankruptcy you list everything you own (house, car, tax refund, etc.) and the law gives you exemptions to protect your stuff. If there is no exemption left to protect the tax refund we would let you know. You could then wait to file the bankruptcy until the tax refund is no longer an issue. Someone might decide to file now if they are being garnished and waiting to file would cost them more money in the garnishment versus how much they would have to turnover from their tax refund.

You would continue to pay on secured debt that you want to keep (cars, house, etc.). If you have non-dischargeable debt (child support, student loans, most taxes) you would continue to pay those as well. You would no longer pay on unsecured debts (credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, etc.).

Any co-signed debt can be wiped away on your end (you would not be responsible to pay it anymore), but the other person would still be responsible to pay it.

This only applies for debts you owe to a credit union and only debts that are not a mortgage loan. If you owe a car loan and a credit card at a credit union, they are cross collateralized, which means that the credit union considers them linked together. So, you can either keep them both or surrender them both (i.e you would have to pay the credit card to keep the car or surrender the car to wipe away the credit card). Whether it makes sense to keep all the credit union debt is a case-by-case situation and we would go over your specific case with you. If you want to keep your car loan at the credit union and you owe $1,000 on a credit card and you want to keep both, and your budget shows you can afford to pay on both, then that makes sense. But if you are already under water on your credit union car loan and then owe other $10,000 on a credit union credit card you would want to take the opportunity to walk away from both. We would work with you on how to get another vehicle.