Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer Seattle, WA

Are you having trouble keeping up with regular monthly payments? Are you facing foreclosure? Do you owe significant past tax debt? You may want to consider debt consolidation through chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy stops a foreclosure and wage garnishment immediately and can allow debtors to spread out mortgage arrears over five years, which helps you avoid a foreclosure.

If you need to speak with an experienced Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer in Seattle, WA, attorney Richard J. Symmes can help. Contact Symmes Law Group today to schedule a free consultation.

What Is Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and How Can It Help You?

In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, debtors enter into a three-to-five-year repayment plan of their debts. The monthly repayment amount is based on numerous factors, including:

• Household disposable income
• Family size
• Mortgage arrears
• Secured debts
• Priority debts

Debtors are required to make monthly installment payments to the Western (or Eastern) District of Washington Chapter 13 trustee.

After the debtor has paid on their debts for the three-to-five-year repayment period, all unsecured non-priority debts that have not been paid off will be discharged.

What Happens If I Miss a Monthly Payment?

If any payments are missed, your bankruptcy case may be dismissed and you will not receive a discharge of your debt, but typically you have some leniency if you miss a few payments and need to make those up later in the plan. You can also file a motion to modify plan payments or convert to chapter 7 bankruptcy if needed.  

Who Should File for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is intended for debtors who are not good candidates for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This may be due to various factors, such as the debtor’s income being too high, having a second mortgage that’s eligible to be stripped and discharged, or owing arrearages on a home mortgage.

Additionally, debtors can file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy every eight years. Chapter 13 bankruptcy can help debtors who’ve previously filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy within the last eight years as a chapter 13 bankruptcy can be filed and receive a bankruptcy discharge after 4 years from the chapter 7 filing.  

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is not for everybody since a debtor must have enough disposable income to put into a payment plan. A debtor’s disposable income is calculated by looking at the household expenses subtracted from the household income. During a consultation at our law office in Seattle, our lawyer will determine if Chapter 13 bankruptcy is the right option for you.

How Much Does It Cost to File for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

The legal fees in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can vary as not all cases are the same. Your attorney will discuss the legal fees with you during your initial consultation at our Seattle law office.

With that said, all bankruptcy attorneys in chapter 7 must collect the legal fees up front to avoid the fees being discharged in the bankruptcy, however in a chapter 13 case, a portion of the fee may be paid through your chapter 13 plan. In addition to the legal fee, the bankruptcy court charges a filing fee. Additionally, your attorneys will obtain a credit report in which the company providing the report charges a fee of their own.

Payment Plans Are Available for Our Legal Services

Symmes Law Group offers convenient payment plans which allow you to retain our law firm and stop all calls from creditors. Many of the legal fees can be paid through your Chapter 13 plan in most circumstances.

Request a Free Consultation with a Seattle Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney

Filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy is an involved process. It’s best to have an experienced lawyer on your side to guide you through every step so you do not miss any important deadlines, hearings, or requests for additional information. Attorney Richard J. Symmes and his team are ready to give you straightforward answers and guidance. To request a free consultation with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer near you, contact our Seattle law office today.

The Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Filing Process

Below is a general summary of how to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. When you visit Symmes Law Group for a consultation, our Seattle bankruptcy lawyer will provide a more detailed breakdown of what Chapter 13 involves and what debtors can expect.

1. Find Out If You Qualify for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

The next step in the Chapter 13 bankruptcy process is figuring out whether you qualify for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and whether it makes sense. This will be determined in most situations during your initial consultation. Your bankruptcy attorney will review your family’s income, household size, assets, and debts among other considerations.

2. Gathering Pertinent Documents and Information

At the conclusion of the free consultation, you will be e-mailed detailed instructions on what information you will need to provide to our office in order to assist you with filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

These documents include:

• A questionnaire in which you will be required to list all of your assets, income, expenses, and debts
• Your last two years of tax returns
• Your last six months of pay stubs
• Information related to specific bankruptcy related questions
• Any third-party debt collection notices that you may have received
• A signed retainer agreement

You may provide this information in person at our Seattle law office, through a scanned PDF via e-mail, or by faxing the information to us at the number we’ll provide.

3. Calculating a Repayment Plan

When you retain a Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer at our Seattle law office, we will calculate a repayment plan. This repayment plan will be confirmed by the bankruptcy court and allow for the repayment of all of your priority debts in conjunction with payments made outside the payment plan on secured debt.

In many Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases, debtors request that their attorney give a ballpark estimate of what payments may look like. Your Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney can calculate these payments on your behalf for a charge + credit report fee.

4. Preparing Petition with the Federal Bankruptcy Court

Once the information is received and your attorney fee is paid, give your bankruptcy attorney at least a week to prepare your petition to file with the Federal Bankruptcy Court.

During the prep process, a copy of your most recent credit report is obtained. Your bankruptcy attorney will follow up with you about any additional information that is needed.

5. Credit Counseling Class

As part of the Chapter 13 bankruptcy process, you will also need to complete a credit counseling class. The credit counseling class must be completed prior to filing your chapter 13 bankruptcy case.

At the end of this process, your attorney will also ask you to review and sign your documents. This can be done in person or through e-mail or fax.

6. Filing Your Petition

Once your petition is signed, your case will be filed, which usually happens on the same day. At the signature meeting, you will be asked to provide:

• Any new paystubs that your bankruptcy attorney does not already have
• Bank statements that show your current balance as of the date of filing in addition to 30 days of transaction history

7. Automatic Stay Period

Once we file your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, you will be subject to what is called the automatic stay period. The automatic stay is part of federal bankruptcy law which says that creditors may not collect on debts without first getting relief from automatic stay from the bankruptcy court.

This means that while you are maintaining your payments in a Chapter 13 repayment plan, creditors may not garnish your wages and bank accounts or make any harassing phone calls about your debts.

8. The Repayment Plan

Your first Chapter 13 repayment plan payment is due within 30 days of case filing. Your payments can be made online.

Attending Your Section 341 Hearing

As soon as your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case is filed, the court will automatically assign a Section 341 hearing court date. This court date usually occurs in about 30-45 days from the date your case is filed.

Attendance at the Section 341 hearing is mandatory, and you will need to make arrangements to attend the court hearing in advance. If English is your second language, then a translator may also be provided at the time of the hearing.

What to Expect on the Day of Your 341 Meeting

The day of your hearing can vary based on your county of residence. Our Seattle bankruptcy lawyers can provide details to residents of King County, Clark County, Snohomish County, and Pierce County about what to expect.

For most debtors, the bankruptcy hearing goes by quickly and generally lasts a total of five minutes. With that said, you should plan to be at court for about an hour as there could be multiple cases on the calendar.

The Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee

At the 341 meeting, you and your attorney will meet with a bankruptcy trustee who has been assigned to your case. The Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee has a duty to represent all of the creditors in your case.

The Chapter 13 trustee office reviews your bankruptcy petition, plan, and assets to make sure you don’t have any assets that are above the exemption limits (rules that allow you to keep your stuff). They also look to see if you made any prohibited transfers of assets. Most importantly, the bankruptcy trustee makes sure that you are proposing a repayment plan that meets the requirements of the bankruptcy and local rules.

If you don’t have any assets that are above the exemption limits and you are proposing a proper repayment plan, then your meeting will go by quickly as the trustee won’t have many non-standard questions for you.

Common Info Provided and Questions Asked During a 341 Meeting

Here is a list of information debtors must provide and questions asked at the bankruptcy hearing:

• State your name and current address for the record
• Provide your picture ID and Social Security number card for review
• Did you sign the petition, schedules, statements, and related documents and is the signature your own?
• Did you read the petition, schedules, statements, and related documents before you signed them?
• Are you personally familiar with the information contained in the petition, schedules, statements and related documents?
• To the best of your knowledge, is the information contained in the petition, schedules, statements, and related documents true and correct?
• Are there any errors or omissions to bring to the bankruptcy trustee’s attention?
• Are all of your assets identified on the schedules?
• Have you listed all of your creditors on the schedules?
• Have you transferred any property to friends or family members in the past two years?
• Do you have any claims to an inheritance or are you expecting to receive any lump sums in the next year?
• Have you previously filed bankruptcy? If so, the trustee must obtain the case number and the discharge information to determine the debtor(s) discharge eligibility.
• What is the address of your current employer?
• Is the copy of the tax return you provided a true copy of the most recent tax return you filed?
• Do you have a domestic support obligation? To whom? Please provide the claimant’s address and telephone number, but do not state it on the record.
• Have you read the Bankruptcy Information Sheet provided by the United States Trustee?

Amended Chapter 13 Plans

The next step in the Chapter 13 bankruptcy process is to make any amendments that your creditors or the bankruptcy trustee have requested. Usually this is done by filing an amended plan which resolves any objections filed by the Chapter 13 trustee or your creditors.

Once all the proper amendments are made and your creditors have submitted proofs of claims (proof that you owe money) your case will be confirmed. When your case is confirmed that means that the Chapter 13 trustee has approved your Chapter 13 plan along with a federal bankruptcy judge who files an order of confirmation.

Upon confirmation, your creditors will start to receive payments shortly thereafter. Prior to confirmation, any monies paid by you is held by the Chapter 13 trustee’s office unless there were any adequate protection payments assigned in your Chapter 13 plan.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Discharge: Completing the Repayment Plan

If you complete your repayment plan in 36-60 months, you will receive a discharge order stating that any remaining unsecured debts have been discharged.

Prior to you receiving a discharge order, you must complete a second credit counseling class called the financial management class. This should be done within 60 days after your 341 hearing or else you case could be closed without a discharge

Once you have completed the class and you provide the certificate of completion, your attorney will file it with the bankruptcy court. The discharge order is very generic and states that you have been discharged of your unsecured debts unless they are certain types of debts that are not dischargeable.

Soon after the discharge notice is issued, your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case will be formally closed and the process will be complete.

Speak with an Experienced Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer in Seattle, WA

Filing for bankruptcy is an involved process, but it can help you get the financial relief you need. To learn more about Chapter 13 bankruptcy from a Seattle-based attorney who’s filed hundreds of bankruptcy petitions during his career, contact Richard J. Symmes for a free consultation. The entire team at Symmes Law Group is ready to help you.