When you’re going through difficult situations in life like filing bankruptcy, it’s possible to get overwhelmed and not think on your feet. Additionally, you may not know when to file bankruptcy and whether to file chapter 7 bankruptcy or chapter 13 bankruptcy. Good thing you can hire bankruptcy lawyers to walk you through the process.

Here’s why you should seek the services of a bankruptcy attorney.

1. Professional Representation

Bankruptcy lawyers are experienced and know the processes involved in filing bankruptcy. Although it is possible to undertake the bankruptcy process on your own, you may miss some important details that will delay the process further. Worse still, you may commit unintentional bankruptcy fraud, which would land you in jail or attract hefty court fines. When you’re already financially distressed, you want to avoid any legal mess that might worsen your situation.

A good bankruptcy attorney in Bismarck, ND, and other cities will help you avail all the bankruptcy documents needed. These documents include paycheck stubs for the last six months, your credit card report, and your most recent federal income tax returns. There is a lot of paperwork involved and you can easily get confused, especially if it’s your first time filing bankruptcy. However, bankruptcy lawyers will provide proper guidance to ensure that you fill all the forms as required by the law.

2. Your Bankruptcy Attorney Will Deal With Your Creditors

Before you get to filing bankruptcy, you have probably had a tough time dealing with creditors. You may have already received multiple default notices and constant calls or emails from your creditors. This can make you more frustrated and add to the distress you are already undergoing. When you hire a bankruptcy lawyer, you won’t have to go through these demoralizing situations because your attorney will take over correspondence.

Once you get bankruptcy lawyers on board, they‘ll contact your creditors and explain what you’re going through. This way, the creditors will stop calling you directly, and this will give you more peace of mind to enable you to get back on your feet. If you still receive calls from your creditors, you can direct them to your attorney. At the end of the day, when you’re in a bankruptcy situation, what you need most is time and peace to work on your financial distress and turn around your situation.

3. Bankruptcy Lawyers Will Get You Better Repayment Terms

If you file chapter 13 bankruptcy, you negotiate new repayment terms with your creditors over a certain period. If you don’t have enough financial and legal knowledge, you may end up agreeing to worse terms that may compound your money problems. This happens because you’ll most likely renegotiate your loan terms under pressure. However, your bankruptcy attorneys will get you better repayment terms because they have the required financial and legal knowledge involved in planning debt repayment terms.

If you’re considering filing chapter 7 bankruptcy, your attorney will help you pursue other alternatives like filing a petition under chapter 11 or chapter 13. When chapter 7 is the only alternative, bankruptcy lawyers will advise you on what properties to liquidate. Your lawyer will have your back so that creditors don’t liquidate even your exempt property. Your creditors will most likely hire lawyers who will try to recover as much debt as they can. In such a case, you may end up losing all your property to your creditors, and have to start at ground zero again. A good bankruptcy attorney will prevent such scenarios.

Certain situations like divorce, filing bankruptcy, and estate planning require you to seek expert knowledge to avoid making common errors and mistakes. Sadly, most Americans often fail to seek representation and end up having negative outcomes. For instance, about 72% of Americans don’t have an up-to-date will. Also, a good percentage of U.S. citizens who file bankruptcy choose to represent themselves. In such cases, most end up with worse outcomes. To avoid this, trust bankruptcy lawyers to represent you and get you better results.