Experienced Washington Bankruptcy Lawyers Helping You Secure Your Financial Future

How often do you actually get a chance to hit the "reset" button in life? Not very often, right? Well, here's your chance. Bankruptcy may seem like a miracle. It may seem too good to be true. Well, we are here to tell you that you're not dreaming. If you qualify, filing bankruptcy just may be the best decision you ever make. You've struggled long enough just to try and survive every month. Stop struggling. Get out of debt now!

A good Washington bankruptcy attorney not only understands the Bankruptcy Code, they also understand how the local trustees handling your case will handle any unusual circumstances. We handle all Washington State Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases. We offer low flat fees and affordable payment plans.

Our Washington State bankruptcy lawyers serve clients throughout the Greater Puget Sound region. From our offices in Everett, Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and Olympia, we help hundreds of clients successfully file for bankruptcy every year. We help our Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy clients wipe out millions of dollars of qualifying debt every year.

You may have heard that qualifying for bankruptcy is a lot tougher under the new laws. This is certainly what the credit card companies your other creditors want you to believe. In our experience, however, over 90% of potential new Washington bankruptcy clients still qualify for protection.

If you are considering bankruptcy for you and your family, it's vitally important to make sure that you are getting accurate and timely information. In developing this informational website, we have reviewed a lot of sites that claim to provide helpful information about filing for bankruptcy in Washington State. A lot of the information on internet is very general and rarely updated.

Our bankruptcy attorneys stay on top of changes to the law. We know that you are counting on us to provide you with accurate and helpful information that you can rely on and trust. Our number one priority is to provide you with the information that you need to make the best financial decision about what is right for you.

We handle all Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases throughout the following locations:

• Everett and Snohomish County
• Olympia and Thurston County
• Tacoma and Pierce County
• Seattle and King County
• Bellevue, WA

Looking for more information about our bankruptcy laws here in Washington State?

These websites provide a lot of helpful and useful information about the Washington State and federal bankruptcy laws. We obviously cannot be responsible for the information provided below. But, in our opinion, the government websites below do a good job of providing a lot of useful general information. There is no substitute, however, for speaking with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer that is familiar with the bankruptcy courts in your jurisdiction.

There is a lot of information about filing for bankruptcy available on the web. But, most of it is very general in nature. One of the better informational sites, however, is one that was created by the government to provide information filing for bankruptcy in the federal courts. This site provides a lot of good general information about filing for bankruptcy.

The page on the "Bankruptcy Basics" is also instructive. From this page, you can find link that provide you with a lot specific information about for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. The site also provides access to a lot of useful bankruptcy forms.

You may also find the Wikipedia pages on Bankruptcy in the United States worth reading. These pages contain a ton of information about the history of bankruptcy, the various Chapter in the bankruptcy code, as well as detailed information about Filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy protection and Filing for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy debt relief.

The most significant changes to the Federal Bankruptcy Laws were the 2005 BAPCPA revisions that were intended to combat bankruptcy abuse. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) imposed a number of new requirements that made filing for bankruptcy in Washington more complicated. In our experience, however, it has not really impacted the ability of our clients to file.

We are still able to qualify over 90% of the clients that we estimate could have qualified under the pre-2006 bankruptcy laws. But, there are now specific income requirements and a significant amount of additional documentation is required in order to successfully complete the bankruptcy process.

If you need to qualify for bankruptcy and have questions about whether or not you can do so, we encourage you to give us a call to learn more about your legal rights and options. As part of the process, we will review your finances and help you determine if qualify for bankruptcy protection.

Our initial consultations regarding qualifying for a Washington state bankruptcy are quite thorough. In many cases, we can pre-qualify you right on the phone during your initial call. Once you are armed with the true facts regarding your legal rights and options, you can then make an informed decision about what is best for you and your family.

At a minimum, however, one of our Washington bankruptcy attorneys can help you to understand the truth regarding the bankruptcy laws and how they may be able to help you and your family. This will enable you to know whether or not moving forward with seeking bankruptcy protection is even an option. This will allow you to make the best possible decision about the financial future of you and your family.

A Washington bankruptcy may be right for you if you want to do any of the following:

• STOP ALL COLLECTION CALLS IMMEDIATELY
• STOP ALL LAWSUITS & GARNISHMENTS
• STOP THE IRS
• STOP A WASHINGTON HOME FORECLOSURE
• STOP REPOSSESSION OF A VEHICLE
• FREE UP MONTHLY INCOME AND CASH FLOW
• GET RID OF DEBT
• GET A NEW START IN LIFE

Our Washington bankruptcy lawyers are experienced and knowledgeable. We understand the Bankruptcy Code and how to maximize your relief under it. Our job is to help you get back on your feet. We will aggressively fight wipe out as much of your debts as legally possible while allowing you to keep as much of your property as the law allows.

We do this by utilizing various "exemptions" in the bankruptcy laws. These exemptions typically allow our clients to keep all of their personal belongings and other property while enabling them to also "discharge" all of their debts or liabilities. Many of our clients lose nothing but their debts after they retain us.

If you have questions about whether or not you can qualify for bankruptcy, we encourage you to raise them during your initial consultation with us. For many of our clients, the qualification process is fairly simple and straight forward. Anyone who has not filed a bankruptcy in chapter 7 bankruptcy in the past 8 years, and shows no disposable income after paying basic allowable living expenses, should be able to file one.

If someone has filed a chapter 7 in the last 8 years, or have some money left each month to at least pay some of their creditors, they may qualify for a chapter 13 payment plan. A chapter 13 bankruptcy is simply a court-approved payment plan, where you make payments while the court protects you.

1. First, we offer a Free INITIAL CONSULTATION. In many cases, one of our Washington bankruptcy lawyers can actually pre-qualify you subject to reviewing your financial documents. If your case is complicated, such as if you have a high income, a small business, or a lot of complicated debts and expenses, one of our debt relief lawyers can run a detailed "means test" to determine if you qualify. We typically charge a basic flat fee of $250 dollars for this service.
2. In either case, we will determine if you can qualify to file for bankruptcy, and what chapter under which you should file.
3. One of our Washington debt relief attorneys will also go over all of your other options, too, to make sure you understand all of your options, and that you are making the best decision.
4. The lawyer working on your case will work with our staff to ensure that all of the required documentation and information regarding your income, assets (the things you own), and your debts is properly collected and recorded.
5. Your debt relief lawyer will also carefully review your petition, which is often 50-70 pages long.
6. We will guide you step-by-step through the bankruptcy process, and one of our Washington bankruptcy attorneys will be with you in court for your hearing.
7. We will also do follow up work after your case is filed to make sure that any creditors who may send bills after you file stop, and go away.

Our bankruptcy law offices are located throughout the greater Puget Sound region. We have offices in King County, Snohomish County, Pierce County, and Thurston County. From our offices in Seattle, Bellevue, Everett, Tacoma, and Olympia, we help clients in need of debt relief throughout the area.

Our bankruptcy attorneys help hundreds of good people just like you who have fallen on hard times. We understand that financial difficulties can happen to anyone. Whether it's from divorce, lost of employment, an unexpected medical emergency, or simply a result of many financial factors, we're here to help.

Many of our debt relief clients find themselves in financial crisis and chaos through no fault of their own. Our dedicated team of bankruptcy professionals want to help you get the financial relief and fresh start that you are entitled to under our debt relief laws. We offer a free initial consultation where we can help you determine whether or not you can qualify for bankruptcy protection and relief.

If you decide that you want to retain our services to help you with your bankruptcy, we offer low and inexpensive flat fees. We also offer affordable payments that fit your budget. We're here to help you through your financial difficulties. Call now for a free consultation regarding your bankruptcy options.

Our Washington State bankruptcy lawyers want you to understand that you do not have to keep struggling every month just to survive. The bankruptcy laws were specifically put into place to assist people who are deep in debt with no realistic hope of pulling out the chance to hit the financial reset button. Filing for bankruptcy is one of the most powerful financial tools and debt relief solutions ever created. The Federal and Washington State bankruptcy laws enable you to literally wipe out every qualifying debt. It really kind of like a miracle.

If you live in King County and want to learn more about your debt relief options, we invite you to set up an appointment at either our Seattle bankruptcy legal services offices or our Bellevue bankruptcy legal services offices. If you live in Snohomish County, we encourage you to schedule a free initial consultation at our Everett legal services offices .

If you live in Pierce County, we would happy to review debt relief options at our Tacoma bankruptcy legal services offices . And, if you live in Thurston County, we can meet with you to discuss whether or not filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection is a viable option at our Olympia bankruptcy legal services offices .

Bankruptcy gives people who have unmanageable debt the right to start over by wiping out most of all their debt. It also gives people the right to hold on to the property they need to continue their lives with stability and dignity once they obtain a final discharge. Property is protected from creditors by bankruptcy exemptions. Many of Chapter 7 and out Chapter 13 bankruptcy clients keep 100% of their possessions through the use of "bankruptcy exemptions"

There are many different categories of exemptions that can be applied under both the Washington State and the Federal bankruptcy laws. There are different exemptions for home equity, cars, household goods, jewelry, tools of the trade, personal injury awards, retirement plans, public aid and others. There is also a catch-all “wild card” exemption for things like cash, tax refunds and accounts receivable.

In Washington, you can choose between federal and state exemptions. You should choose carefully because you can not mix exemptions, you must choose either federal or state. For example, Washington exemptions are more generous for home equity and the federal exemptions are more generous with the wild card. The analysis of whether to utilize either the federal or the Washington exemptions.

These exemptions are usually more than enough to cover a debtor’s property in bankruptcy. If some property is vulnerable, you can offer to pay the trustee cash for the property to keep it if possible. You can also pay the amount that would be generated from a sale through a Chapter 13 plan instead and keep the property.

If you are making payments on a car, house or other big ticket item, you can keep the property by continuing to make the payments. A creditor will ask that you sign a reaffirmation agreement. This agreement makes the debt non-discharged. You should be careful when signing this agreement because if you fail to make the payments, you are on the hook for the loan. It is especially tricky when deciding whether to reaffirm a car debt. Finance companies can repossess a car if you don’t sign a reaffirmation agreement even if you are current. However, car loans are risky for someone in financial trouble. When a car is repossessed, you can find yourself owing any money left on a loan after the car is sold and the proceeds applied to the loan. Your finance company may give you an idea of whether they would repossess the car without a reaffirmation. If you are financing appliances, furniture or electronics, you can usually pay less than the contract through a reaffirmation. On the other hand, mortgage companies and car companies usually require that you pay the loan you contracted for.

You can catch up on a mortgage or pay a car loan through a Chapter 13 plan. Chapter 13 allows you to reduce car payments. If you purchased a car over two and a half years ago or it was refinanced, you can “cram down” a car. That means you pay the value of the car as secured and the rest of the loan as unsecured. In Chapter 13 you pay unsecured debt between 0% and 100% depending on your income. You can cram down other secured loans on big ticket consumer items if you have purchased them over a year ago. You can not cram down a first mortgage but if your house is worth less than the first mortgage balance, you can remove a second mortgage in a Chapter 13.