When your financial situation has reached a point where filing bankruptcy may be the best option, you will already have plenty on your mind. If you want to make your life even more difficult, try navigating the bankruptcy process on your own.  Filing for bankruptcy on your own has a high risk for numerous mistakes along the way, complicating your life even further. To avoid these unnecessary complications, you should always hire an Atlanta bankruptcy lawyer to help guide you through the process from start to finish.

Meeting Deadlines

When you start bankruptcy proceedings in Atlanta, there will be many deadlines that will need to be met regarding the filing of various documents to both the court and your creditors.  By having an experienced lawyer handling your bankruptcy, you will have no trouble meeting these deadlines and ensuring the proper documents get into the hands of those who need them.

Objective Opinions

If you try to handle your bankruptcy by yourself, chances are you will not only be making mistakes along the way but also second-guessing yourself as well.  Once you hire a knowledgeable attorney who specializes in bankruptcies, you will always have access to objective opinions as you progress through the various stages.

Explaining the Steps

Since most people who file for bankruptcy have never done so before, you will probably know little if anything about how the process works.  By hiring an attorney, they can explain each step to you in terms that are easy to understand.  Whether talking to you about upcoming meetings with your creditors, complete a debtor education course or other crucial aspects of the bankruptcy process, you’ll know exactly what is expected of you each step of the way.

Protection from Harassment

Since you have probably been unable to pay numerous bills, you are likely very familiar with collection calls from your creditors.  If you don’t have a lawyer helping you through your bankruptcy proceedings, you will be subject to possible harassment by your creditors.  In many cases creditors will exert pressure on purpose, hoping to force you into making poor decisions regarding future payments of your debts.  Yet once they know you have hired an attorney the harassment tends to stop, since all future communication can be directed to your attorney.

Preventing a Felony

Even if you have no intention of committing a crime, making the wrong mistake in a bankruptcy filing could end up having federal authorities charging you with fraud.  Even if you do something as simple as accidentally misrepresenting your assets when filing your bankruptcy documents, federal authorities may take this to mean you are trying to hide bank accounts or other assets from the bankruptcy process.  Rather than find yourself being charged with a felony and facing a prison sentence, hire an attorney who specializes in bankruptcies.

Which Type of Bankruptcy to File

Depending on your individual situation, you will typically need to choose between Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  Since you probably won’t know the differences between each of these, it’s vital you have a skilled attorney working with you who can explain how each of these works.  By doing so, you’ll be able to make a well-informed decision that will benefit you financially in the long run.

Once you start to delve into the finer points of bankruptcy, there is little doubt you will start to realize how valuable an attorney can be from beginning to end.  By consulting with and hiring an Atlanta bankruptcy attorney today, you’ll be eliminating the chances you’ll make costly and potentially criminal mistakes tomorrow.