Bankruptcy Lawyer & Debt Relief Attorney

Bankruptcy Attorney & Bankruptcy Lawyer for Debt Relief

When faced with financial distress, bankruptcy can often help. Simply put, bankruptcy discharges your legal obligation to pay most of your debt and provides you with the ability to start over. As your bankruptcy attorney, we help you understand exactly what filing can and can’t do for your specific situation before you commit to the process.

What Bankruptcy Can and Can’t Discharge

Debt that can typically be discharged includes credit card bills, personal loans, and medical bills. However, certain types of debt cannot be discharged through a Chapter 7 filing:

• Child support or alimony
• Certain types of tax debt
• Student loans

Understanding which debts qualify for discharge and which don’t is one of the first things a bankruptcy lawyer should walk you through, since it directly affects whether filing actually solves the financial problem you’re facing. If most of what you owe falls into the non-dischargeable categories above, bankruptcy may not be the right tool, and part of our job is telling you that upfront rather than filing anyway.

Chapter 7: Liquidation Bankruptcy

Chapter 7, also called liquidation bankruptcy, is the most common form of bankruptcy filed today. The court appoints a bankruptcy trustee to oversee the process, which includes reviewing the petition, securing the debtor’s assets, the sale of those assets, and the repayment of creditors.

Hiring a bankruptcy attorney is crucial, as changes in bankruptcy law may require anyone interested in filing Chapter 7 to go through what’s called a “means test” to determine eligibility. Not everyone qualifies for Chapter 7 automatically; the means test compares your income against state thresholds, and a bankruptcy lawyer can walk you through whether you’re likely to pass it before you file.

What Happens During the Bankruptcy Process

Filing for bankruptcy follows a structured legal process, and knowing what to expect ahead of time makes it far less intimidating:

1. Credit counseling: Before you can even file, you’ll need to complete a session through an approved credit counseling agency.
2. Filing the petition: This is where you formally disclose your full financial picture income, debts, assets, and expenses to the court.
3. Automatic stay: The moment your petition is filed, creditors are legally barred from continuing collection calls, lawsuits, or other collection actions against you.
4. Meeting of creditors: You’ll attend a required hearing where the trustee, and any creditors who choose to appear, can ask you questions about your filing.
5. Discharge: If everything goes as expected, this is the finish line, the court wipes out your eligible debts and you come out the other side.

What Our Clients Say

“I was drowning in credit card debt with collection calls that wouldn’t stop, and honestly wasn’t sure if bankruptcy was even the right move for me. The attorneys at Radow Law Group sat down and went through my finances, broke down the Chapter 7 process in a way I could actually follow, and stuck with me through every step of it. What felt like an impossible decision suddenly felt manageable.”

— Christine A.

“From the first consultation, it was clear these were attorneys who actually cared about getting me to the right outcome, not just processing another case. They took the time to answer every question I had, kept the paperwork moving without me having to chase them for updates, and I always knew where things stood. I couldn’t have asked for better people to go through this with.”

— Eric W.

Frequently Asked Questions