Our Iowa bankruptcy attorneys want you to know how to prepare for a bankruptcy petition. In this article on bankruptcy preparation, we go over the steps you need to take if you need to file for bankruptcy.

Before you file for bankruptcy, certain steps must be taken to prepare for your eventual filing. For starters, the completion of an online credit counseling course is required. Thankfully, these courses are usually relatively short and the expense is nominal. Our Iowa bankruptcy lawyers are also required to submit to the court certain information regarding your assets, liabilities, income, and expenses. Thankfully for you, we cover these in detail, and also explain what happens at the first meeting of creditors and the effects of discharge of your debt.

In this article, our Iowa bankruptcy attorneys explain how you can keep your house and cars in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

In most cases, our clients can file for bankruptcy without losing any assets including their home and vehicles.  If your vehicle or home is held as collateral, you will most likely have the option to sign a reaffirmation agreement.  This reaffirms the loan without discharging it in the bankruptcy process.  The Bankruptcy Code states that a portion of equity in particular types of property can be exempt from collection.  You can apply these exemptions to the property you decide to keep in order to avoid the trustee collecting the property to pay your creditors.  For example:

• You are allowed to keep $2,400.00 of equity in your vehicles ($4,800.00 for a married couple filing jointly)
• You are allowed to keep $15,000.00 of equity in your primary residence ($30,000.00 for a married couple filing jointly); 
• There is a $4,000.00 wildcard exemption that you can apply to any property of your choice ($8,000.00 for a married couple). 

In this article, our Iowa bankruptcy lawyers explain what happens at the first meeting of creditors in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Once your bankruptcy attorney files the petition, they will accompany you to the “First Meeting of Creditors.”  This meeting is between you, your attorney, and your case's bankruptcy trustee. The trustee asks you preliminary questions and may do the following:

• Confirm your identity through a photo ID and social security card.
• Swear you in and put you under oath. 
• Ask if you've reviewed your schedules before they were filed and ask you to confirm that they are true and correct.  
• Ask if you have reviewed required notices provided by your attorney regarding bankruptcy and your alternatives. 

The trustee will then ask you specific questions about your finances.  The meeting is usually about 10 minutes long and should not be terribly stressful.