Bankruptcy is never a fun process to go through, no matter where you live. But before you can even go through it, you need to know the first basic steps of how to go through it in the first place. In order to make the process easier, we have gathered the first three steps that anyone in the Ohio area needs to know before they attempt to file for bankruptcy in the state.
Step One: Figure out what Your Credit Report is
This is the first step, and information that is helpful to have, bankruptcy or otherwise. You are entitled to view your Credit Report for free once a year through nationwide credit reporting companies, including Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, although you need to make the request yourself. When you get a credit report from one of these companies, the report will contain a fair amount of useful information, including your residence, the method by which your pay your bills, and whether you have filed for bankruptcy in the past or not. This credit report is sold to relevant entities in order to determine different factors. For instance, if you are to pursue a house, employment, insurance, or credit, the relevant figures would want this information. In order to get the credit report, you have multiple potential options available to contact these nationwide credit reporting companies. You can either contact them through the online forms on their websites, contacting them by mail, or contacting them through their toll-free numbers.
Step Two: Collect Your Paystubs and Bills
Once you have your credit report on hand and ready to be presented, you will want to follow up by gathering up all of your paystubs and bills, covering the last relevant six months. This creates a lot of good factors for you in your attempt to file for bankruptcy, particularly preparing a strong case A good frame of reference to use when you are figuring out what you have made in this year as part of this process, think about what you would account for as part of filing your taxes, and work off of that. Depending on how many employers you receive income from, this can be a fairly easy process or a somewhat difficult one, but do not only factor that in. You need to factor in all forms of income, regardless of if it comes from your employer(s) or if you earned it through a sale or what have you. Once you have all of your paystubs and bills all gathered up and in front of you, then you will have to sort them into various categories. First off, create a stack for your bills — these will include things like your mortgage, utility bills, rent, and others. Also include any relevant payments you’re making; your tax payments for that period, medical expenses, student loans, car loans, or any other forms of debt. It may seem intimidating to see the size of this pile of bills and debts, but do not worry. The more you have on hand, the better it is for whomever you decide to work with in your bankruptcy filing.
Step Three: Make Note of all Property — both Personal Effects and Real Estate
The next step of the process is to itemize all of the property that you own. This does not just apply to your real estate, but also to your personal effects. The process of this might be a little tricky, as simply the original cost of an item or whatr the item may end up costing to replace it is not really the price you need to worry yourself about, as it may have either gained or lost value over time. So be extra mindful of that and get items assessed where that may be important to consider, such as jewelry, homes, automobiles, collectibles, and other such items. Other things that are important to factor in include stocks and bonds, insurance and retirement accounts, and even less tangible things will be important to note. For example, if you are involved in a lawsuit where you expect it to go in your favor, that can be a factor that helps you out in the bankruptcy process. Being named as a benefactor in a will can also be something to use in the process. There are other less tangible things to consider, but these are just a couple ones that may make things easier overall.
Do note that when you make up this list of property that you own, it is possible to have certain pieces of property be labeled as exempt from the bankruptcy process. This is usually granted in the event that taking away the property, such as a person’s only home or their only form of transportation, is demonstratively going to make it more difficult for them to earn a wage and, in turn, pay of debts, which is mutually beneficial.
Now, these are just the first few steps to get you started, and certainly not the extent of the entire filing process. Once you have completed these steps and are ready to move onto more, contact FCW Law Firm today to discuss the rest.