Centerville Bankruptcy Attorney

Many Americans have experienced financial devastation over the past few years—it seems that paychecks are simply not keeping up with the increase in prices on just about everything. When you feel as though you’ve reached the end of your rope financially and are uncertain about what you need to do to get back on track, you may have considered bankruptcy. While filing for bankruptcy should never be taken lightly, it can be a solid solution to an out-of-control problem. If you have thought long and hard about whether bankruptcy is the right choice for you, and have decided to move forward, you could significantly benefit from the experience of a Centerville bankruptcy attorney from Horwitz & Horwitz.

Why Should You Choose A Centerville Bankruptcy Attorney from Horwitz & Horwitz?

Once you have made your decision to file for bankruptcy, your next decision is which law firm to choose to guide you through the process. At Horwitz & Horwitz, our attorneys have been helping people in the same situation you now find yourself in for many, many years. Centerville bankruptcy attorney Barbara Horwitz founded the law firm with Jon Horwitz thirteen years ago. Between our two lawyers, we have more than 53 years of combined experience. Our clients appreciate the fact that we recognize what an important decision hiring a Centerville bankruptcy attorney really is.

We will never exert pressure on a client to hire us—we lead with an honest, straightforward approach, with plenty of individualized attention for each client. When you call, you will always talk to one of our attorneys—we never hand off our cases to paralegals or junior attorneys. We also understand that it can be nerve-wracking to meet with a Centerville bankruptcy attorney and discuss your private financial matters. We will set you at ease from the very first meeting, allowing you some relief from the months or years of financial crises.

Advantages of Working with a Bankruptcy Attorney

Bankruptcy Overview

Although the Bankruptcy Code is a uniform law enacted ​by Congress which applies to all bankruptcies throughout the United States, federal law also allows each individual state to decide what real and personal property is exempt, therefore legally protected, during a bankruptcy case. While in some states you are allowed to choose from a list of federal or state exemptions, other states, ​including Ohio, allow you to ​only use state exemptions. This means that a bankruptcy filer in one state could be allowed to keep his or her home and the equity in that home, in another state the bankruptcy filer could lose their home in a bankruptcy proceeding. Further, there can be differences from one jurisdiction to another in how bankruptcy laws are interpreted and applied.

Who Files for Bankruptcy?

People who have never filed for bankruptcy tend to have plenty of preconceived notions about those who do. A study published in ​debt.org found that nearly half of all bankruptcies were related to outstanding medical expenses resulting from serious illnesses or accidents, from losing at least two weeks’ of work due to the illness or accident and/or from medical expenses not covered by insurance. Since that time, the most commonly cited reasons for bankruptcy include job loss, reduced income, medical expenses from illness or injury, unexpected expenses due to an emergency, credit card debt and as preparation for a divorce.

The study further found that the number of annual bankruptcies varies widely from state to state and that states with more lenient wage-garnishment laws typically see more bankruptcy filings. California typically has the most bankruptcies in the nation, with Alaska having the least, although the study did not account for population, so these facts are not all that surprising. That being said, in 2011, five states in the nation accounted for 38 percent of all bankruptcies in the nation (California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Ohio).

How Bankruptcy Can Help

Of course, every situation is different, and the decision to file for bankruptcy should never be made lightly, but bankruptcy ​may​ make it possible for a debtor to:

• Prevent repossession of a vehicle and, in some cases, force the creditor to return repossessed property;
• Eliminate the legal obligation to pay most or all of his or her debts, obtaining a fresh financial start;
• Stop foreclosure proceedings on a home or mobile home, offering the opportunity to catch up on missed payments;
• Prevent termination of a utility service or restore a utility service which has been disconnected;
• Prevent wage garnishment or harassment from creditors;
• Provide a method of challenging creditor claims when the creditor may have committed fraud or is attempting to collect more than the debtor owes.

What Bankruptcy Cannot Do

It is important that those considering bankruptcy not see it as a total cure to every financial issue. Bankruptcy can usually ​not eliminate certain rights of secured creditors—the entity which holds your mortgage or the company who holds the loan for your automobile in particular—however those entities ​can sometimes be forced to take payments over time as the bankruptcy process goes forward. Bankruptcy has no effect on non-dischargeable debts. Student loans are not dischargeable debts; neither are child support payments, spousal support payments, certain other debts related to divorce, criminal fines, some tax debts and any orders from a court of law for restitution. Bankruptcy ​cannot protect co-signers on your debts. This means that if a relative or friend co-signed a loan for you, and that loan is discharged in bankruptcy, the co-signer will still be responsible for part or all of the loan. Finally, bankruptcy cannot discharge any debts which are incurred after the bankruptcy has been filed.