Senior citizens often need a bankruptcy attorney in order to protect their freedom and independence. It is common for seniors to run into financial difficulty. Careful planning is often not enough to prevent financial troubles because life has a way of throwing curve balls. For example, monthly retirement payments may be lower than expected, stocks that you received dividends from may no longer be paying out, and medical bills may have caught you by surprise. These are only a few examples of the many unknowns that when they happen, can leave seniors in a financial jam. If this sounds like you – you’re not alone.
We work with a lot of seniors that are worried that they will have to give up their home in order to take care of debts and stop the collector calls. After living in your home for decades and working hard to pay down the mortgage, you shouldn’t have to walk away while in your retirement years. Don’t give up hope because we can help.
In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you can have a payment plan that will prevent your creditors from pursuing further collection, and you can stay in your family home. In this scenario, we can help you to create a plan after reviewing how much money you have come in every month and what your true expenses are. This is different than when you file for a loan. Instead of only looking at your debt payments, we want to know what you spend on groceries, gas, medication, doctors, etc. In order to capture a true picture of your financial situation, we need to know every detail. As a bankruptcy attorney, we will then work to create a plan for settlement and repayment.
When you file a Chapter 13, you are proposing to repay some of your debts but not all of your debt. Once we determine how much money you have to apply towards debt payments every month (after living expenses and bills) we will propose to make a set payment amount on a monthly basis. It will be disbursed amongst your various creditors for a period of a few years. Any debt that remains will be discharged or eliminated. For example, if right now you should make $950 in monthly debt payments and owe a total of $45,000, we could propose that you only pay $300 a month for three years which equals $10,800.
The court will decide whether or not the plan for repayment is acceptable. Your creditors will also have the opportunity to protest, but most of the time they are happy to get something instead of not getting paid at all. As a bankruptcy lawyer, it is our job to demonstrate why you should be able to file for a Chapter 13 and why the repayment plan is the best you can do. Once it goes through, your creditors cannot come after you for any more money and you will be able to live comfortably in your home.
