Even when people are having a hard time paying their bills, there are certain things they always make sure get paid. Most often this includes the house and car payments, but can also include other debts. Some of the more popular debts that people feel compelled to pay are medical expense, and department store credit cards. This might be because the need for medical assistance comes up frequently, so patients want to stay in the good graces of their physician or dentist. Or it could be that you want to continue to charge at a certain store, so don’t want to fall behind on payments on that card. This need to pay certain debts can lead to the question of whether you have to include all debts in your case when you file bankruptcy, and the answer is yes.
Here is what is required of you when you decide to file bankruptcy:
• You must list out all of your debts, by amount and name of lender. This allows the Court to send notice of your filing to everyone you owe money, and it is that notice that will put a stop to calls and collection lawsuits.
• You have to provide the Court with information about your income, from all sources.
• You will have to go to an initial hearing and answer questions about your debts, one of those questions will be whether all of your debts have been listed in the case.
• At this hearing you might also have to answer questions from lenders. Most times the only lenders that show up to this hearing are your house and car lenders, and they will only want to know if you intend to keep the property and maintain the payments. If so, you will likely be asked to sign a reaffirmation agreement on these debts.
The thought of having to list all of your debt can be scary, especially if you have more debt than you can remember. Forgetting to list a creditor does happen, and if it does there is no need to worry. You can always amend the documents to add a forgotten lender, or ask that the Court consider them to have been listed from the get-go.
For answers to your questions about debt and what is needed to file a bankruptcy case, contact us at www.DsouzaLegalGroup.com.
