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You might be wanting to file for bankruptcy when your credit starts to cave in around you. When it becomes so bad that you cannot seem to get your head above water. If you are considering this as a viable option, you are not alone. Many people consider filing for bankruptcy every year for the same reasons. However, is it really the best choice that you have? Not long ago, it was relatively easy to file for bankruptcy and it offered you a clean slate, which is what it was designed to do in the first place. Sure, you had to deal with an unsightly mark on your credit report for a number of years, but it offered you the chance to start all over when it came to your credit.
But recent changes in bankruptcy law make it even harder to understand and determine if this is the right choice for you. You see, Chapter 7 filings were the most popular because it essentially took everything away and you really did not have to pay anything back in most cases, whereas with Chapter 13, you had to pay back at least part of your debt. With the new laws, the income level has decreased for filing Chapter 7, which means your income will play a crucial part in what type of bankruptcy you can file. You then have to take what is known as the means test, which gives the court the ability to determine what you are paying, what you are making, and just how much you can afford to pay back. At the same time, credit counseling is now required for any person that wants to file for bankruptcy, regardless of what Chapter they file under. This has been contested since studies have shown that the majority of people who file for bankruptcy do not do so because of financial mismanagement, but rather due to circumstances out of their control, which many argue would benefit very little from a credit counseling session, but this requirement remains as part of the law. Therefore, knowing these new changes, of which only a few are listed here, it is absolutely critical that you contact an attorney before you make your decision. Before these law changes, you could file for bankruptcy on your own behalf if you wanted to, without much trouble. Now, you could still file, but you may find barriers and blockage that an attorney can help you figure out. Further, if you file incorrectly or miss filing a required form, it could cost you to lose even more than you need to, and you may need to go all the way back to square one. So, how do you decide if bankruptcy is for you? Well, you need to look at your debt, your income, and your expenses as a whole. In order to make sure that everything is taken into an account and you have a real outlook as to what you may be facing with bankruptcy, you should take advantage of a free bankruptcy evaluation. This should be done before you file for bankruptcy and allows you to have a real understanding of just what decision you want to make, as well as what other options and alternatives to bankruptcy you may have based on your particular circumstances. For more insights and additional information about whether you should File For Bankruptcy as well as getting a free bankruptcy evaluation from a qualified bankruptcy attorney local to you, please visit our web site at http://www.bankruptcy-data.com
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