Can You Pay Your Bankruptcy Lawyer After Your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Has Been Filed?
September 30, 2008
How do you pay your bankruptcy lawyer for a Chapter 7 case? If you had a ton of money, you probably wouldn’t need to file for bankruptcy.
Most bankruptcy lawyers offer convenient payment plans to help you get your case filed. Some lawyers even let you pay your Chapter 7 legal fees after the case has been filed.
Here’s a tip - if your lawyer files your Chapter 7 bankruptcy case before you have paid in full, any attempt to force you to pay after the filing date is illegal and in violation of the automatic stay in bankruptcy.
That’s right - your lawyer may be violating the bankruptcy laws by demanding payment of legal fees after the case has been filed.
So the alternative is to pay your Chapter 7 legal fees in installments. While you are paying those fees, your lawyer should be working on your case to get it ready for filing. This should include:
- helping you put together all of the documents needed for your bankruptcy filing
- drafting the bankruptcy papers so they can be filed as soon as you have paid your legal fees in full
- contacting all debt collectors to let them know they are no longer permitted to call or write to you (if they do keep calling or writing after being told that you have a lawyer, they are in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act)
- filing an Answer in any debt collection lawsuit so that a default judgment is not entered against you
- getting your bank accounts unfrozen if a creditor or debt collector has restrained any money that is exempt under state law
When discussing fees with an attorney, it is important to remember that you often get what you pay for. An attorney with lower fees may not be able to give your case the individual attention it requires. An attorney with the proper experience should be able to provide an accurate quote before proceeding with your case.
