Q: I Filed A Bankruptcy Years Ago Can I File Again
A: An individual can file a Chapter 7 if it has been more than EIGHT years since they filed a prior Chapter 7. The rule is SIX years to do a Chapter 7 after a Chapter 13, with other rules and restrictions. An individual can file a Chapter 13 if it has been more than FOUR years since they filed a prior Chapter 7 and TWO years after filing a prior Chapter 13. To be certain if you can or cannot file you should contact an attorney who will need to ask you questions about your prior case.
Complete The Bankruptcy Forms
Completing the forms that you have to provide to the court for your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Nebraska is typically the longest and most tedious part of the process. It is tedious because you have an obligation to fully disclose all aspects of your financial affairs, and because you have to use the official court forms. If you are eligible to use Upsolve when filing bankruptcy in Nebraska, we will handle the more tedious parts of the forms once you provide all of the required information. Folks who hire a lawyer for their Nebraska bankruptcy typically work with the lawyer’s office to complete the forms. You can get everything you need for free online, either as individual fillable PDF documents, or by downloading this packet from the Nebraska Bankruptcy Court. If you are working on this by yourself, you should also download a copy of the free instruction manual for folks filing Chapter 7 in Nebraska, or anywhere else, created by the federal judiciary when they recently redesigned the forms.
Q: Can I Keep One Credit Card For Emergencies
A: That choice MAY be up to you. I generally discourage my clients from keeping ANY credit cards. Please note also that the decision may not be up to you. If you owe a balance on the account when you file the case you must list the credit card company in your Bankruptcy. Also, your credit card company will check your credit report and see that you filed even if you were not required to list them in your case. Once they find out that you filed, even if you have not caused them a loss on your account, the credit card company can cancel your charging privileges. Lastly, if you are in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, you are not allowed to incur any additional debt without prior permission from the Bankruptcy Court.
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Douglas County Clerk Of The District Court / Jury Commissioner
John FriendClerk of the District Court
The Clerk of the District Court has resumed normal operations.
The Clerk of District Courts office does not have information on how court hearings will be handled.
- If you are represented by an attorney, please contact the attorney for information.
- If you are representing yourself, please contact the office of the Judge assigned to your case for hearing requirements.
For those who do not want to visit the courthouse, here are options
Filings that are not time critical can be mailed. Fines and judgment payments can be mailed, or paid online. Checks or Money Orders can be mailed to:
Clerk of the District Court 1701 Farnam Street
To pay online, go to the Nebraska.gov Payment Portal.
If you require copies of documents from your court case, call 402-444-7018.
If you need to file a Protection Order, you can obtain the forms to print and fill out before coming in online.
Sheriff Service may limited at this time. Please contact the appropriate sheriff’s office for more information on service processing.
Attorneys can eFile documents.
We thank you for your patience and cooperation during this time.
The Clerk of the District Court is committed to enhancing the capabilities of the office by the use of new technology. As technology continues to change, we will strive to provide you with the latest information.
Our hours of operation are 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
Q: How Long Does The Case Take To Be Finished
A: As soon as you file the case you automatically receive protection from your creditors collection activities . There are exceptions, such as for collection of delinquent Child Support payments, but generally speaking everyone you owe will have to back off as soon as you file the case. Chapter 7 typically lasts 3.5 to 4 months and then a discharge is entered. Chapter 13 lasts between 3 to 5 years.
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Dealing With Your Car
What a lot of people don’t realize is that filing bankruptcy in Nebraska gives you options to deal with your car that you don’t have outside of the bankruptcy context. If you are stuck in a bad car loan, with a high interest rate, a lot of negative equity and a payment you can’t really afford, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Nebraska gives you the chance to surrender the car without worrying about paying the rest of the loan. Outside of the bankruptcy context, if you simply return your car you are still responsible to pay off the loan. On the other hand, if you are happy with the way things are, you can keep the car with the same loan that you had when your Nebraska bankruptcy was first filed. In order to do this, you will have to enter into a reaffirmation agreement. Since the reaffirmation agreement effectively pulls your car loan out of the pool of debts you are discharging, make sure you are able to afford the monthly payment, so you don’t end up back where you started before your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Nebraska was filed. Of course, if you don’t have a car loan then you don’t have to worry about any of that and as long as the value of the vehicle is less than the applicable exemption, you will be able to keep the vehicle.
How Can You Be Successful In Representing Yourself
You are most likely to be successful representing yourself in a straightforward Chapter 7 case. It is important to find a trusted resource and educate yourself on the necessary steps if you want you case to be successful. We recommend using the US Trustee site in your area as well as the learning center here at Upsolve to guide you through the process.
Means Test
First you will need to determine if you are eligible to file a Chapter 7 by passing the means test. If you are below a certain threshold for your state you will qualify, otherwise you need to complete both parts of the means test calculation to determine your disposable income.
Paperwork
There are a lot of bankruptcy forms to fill out to file a case. You will need to fill out a petition and schedules and be certain to list all of your assets and creditors. In order to make certain that you are properly listing all of your creditors you should get a copy of your . You can request a free copy here.
Debtor Education
There are two debtor education courses you will have to take. You will take the first course before you file, and the second course after you file.
Court Appearance
Discharge
After you have attended your 341 hearing and presuming there is no follow-up needed you simply need to wait to receive your Notice of Discharge, which is the successful ending to your case. Make certain to keep a copy of this document somewhere safe.
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S To File A Bankruptcy Case Without Attorney
Here are the 8 steps to file a bankruptcy case without hiring a chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney:
- The law has established limits on wealth and income. Therefore, you need to provide full disclosure of your assets, income, and wealth. If your income is less than the median state level and has fewer assets, you are eligible to file a bankruptcy case on your own.
- After that, you have to fill out the means test if your income is above the median state level. This form would determine if your average income is less or more than the other households of your size in the same state.
- Before filing a case, the court would assure if you have proper education about debt handling. You must clarify to the court that you do meet the requirements.
- After that, you have to fill out Form B1, an official voluntary petition.
- When you have assembled all the documents and filled out all the paperwork, you have to file a petition so that your case could be scheduled.
- You would have to attend a 341 meeting where the trustee would ask you several questions about your debt management and non-exempt property.
- You must also attend the financial management course or you might risk having your case dismissed.
- In the end, you have to meet all the courts requirements before you can represent yourself in the court.
In case of further questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a reply or contact us.
Preventing Bankruptcy Exemption Problems
Exempt your property carefully. The bankruptcy trusteethe court-appointed official assigned to manage your casewill review the exemptions. A trustee who disagrees with your exemptions will likely try to resolve the issue informally. If unsuccessful, the trustee will file an objection with the bankruptcy court, and the judge will decide whether you can keep the property.
Example. Mason owns a rare, classic car worth $15,000, but the state vehicle exemption doesn’t cover it entirely. Believing that the car qualifies as artat least in his mindMason exempts it using his state’s unlimited artwork exemption. The trustee disagrees with Mason’s characterization and files an objection with the court. The judge will likely decide the vehicle doesn’t qualify as art.
Purposefully making inaccurate statements could be considered fraudulent. Bankruptcy fraud is punishable by up to $250,000, 20 years in prison, or both.
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Hire A Bankruptcy Attorney In Smithfield Ne
Getting the benefit of a Nebraska bankruptcy attorney knowledge and experience with bankruptcy doesnt come cheap, and their professional rates are considered a bit on the higher side, when compared with other legal specialties. However, if they didnt save their clients money, they couldnt stay in business. With careful analysis and informed decisions you should be able to select the best Bankruptcy Attorney to proceed with your particular plan to get out of debt. Here we have a few tips to help you choose the best Bankruptcy Attorney for filing your bankruptcy case.
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Chapter 13 Bankruptcies And Other Situations
While in some cases you can file bankruptcy without a lawyer, there are exceptions, depending on the type of bankruptcy. Some examples include:
- If your corporation or partnership is facing bankruptcy, you’ll need a bankruptcy lawyer.
- If you fail the Means Test because your income is too great, you may have to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy rather than a Chapter 7. In that case, you can still file for bankruptcy without a lawyer, but it will be more difficult. That’s because Chapter 13 cases are much more complicated than Chapter 7 bankruptcies.
In addition to filling out the needed paperwork, you’ll have to create a repayment plan detailing how you plan to repay your creditors. As with Chapter 7 cases, downloading a bankruptcy forms package will help you stay organized by providing you with all the paperwork you need to file.
Should You Use A Free Online Bankruptcy Tool
There are free online bankruptcy tools available for debtors considering filing. However, most of these do little more than fill out the paperwork for you. It will still be up to you to decide which form of bankruptcy is best, file everything with the Court, and then follow through with the process.
Other online credit assistance programs can actually cost debtors more money in the long run, making it harder for you to get out of debt. If you do decide to file bankruptcy without an attorney, be sure you fully investigate any program or organization who offers to help you get out of debt for free.
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How Hard Is It To File For Bankruptcy On Your Own
You will at least need an understanding of the legal issues before filing the bankruptcy petition. How hard a case will be will also depend on other factors including :
- The type of bankruptcy
- How complicated your case is
- Your current financial situation
- Whether you have other obligations like student loans, car loans, child support, and alimony
Even though your case is relatively uncomplicated, a bankruptcy case requires you to fill out extensive paperwork and have a good knowledge of the Bankruptcy Code. Thus, it may be in your best interest to at least have an initial consultation with an attorney to make sure you are on the right course.
Business Bankruptcy Lawyer In Smithfield Ne
Though filings have declined of late, tens of millions of Americans are in constant danger of being overwhelmed by their debts. Not surprisingly, lawyers who work in this field are in high demand.
But lets be clear, nobody wants to file for bankruptcy. Although it is becoming more common, filing is an incredibly unpleasant process that publicly exposes your finances. It is also a public admission of failure, which is why few Americans choose to do it willingly.
Because the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is incredibly complicated, people that are considering filing for protection should the best bankruptcy attorney they can afford. Debt Attorneys spend years studying the dense language of the U.S. tax code before they stand up in court. It is also important to note that if you make a single mistake on your petition or you file it incorrectly, your case could be summarily dismissed with no explanation of why.
The single most important consideration when searching for a bankruptcy attorney is experience. In other words, he or she should specialize in Nebraska bankruptcy law. As we mentioned, the code that governs this area of legal practice is extremely complicated and an attorney who does not specialize in it may not be able to compete with those that do. It is also important to contact a Nebraska tax lawyer, since different states and regions may have different laws and regulations.
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Consultation With Bankruptcy Attorney
Jane sets an appointment to have a free bankruptcy consultation with one of the bankruptcy lawyers at John T. Turco & Associates, P.C., L.L.O. At the appointment, Jane lets the attorney know about the background information. The attorney asks a lot of other questions too:
- Are you being sued by any other creditors other than the one we know about?
- Do you own a house?
- Do you have a car loan?
- Do you have any tax problems?
- What about assets? What do you own?
The bankruptcy attorney determines that Janes case is really pretty basic other than a few little things. Obviously, the wage garnishment will need to be immediately stopped once the bankruptcy is filed. Another big advantage that Jane has going for her in terms of getting an affordable bankruptcy quote is that she is very organized. She has all of her pay stubs going back six months, her bills are all in one folder and she also has her tax returns for the last two years with her. Jane is prepared and knows who she owes.
Skipping Mandatory Credit Counseling Classes
There are two sets of bankruptcy-related credit counseling classes you have to complete:
- Pre-filing credit counseling within 6 months before your petition is filed
- Post-filing financial education, completed after your petition is filed, but before your debts are discharged
If you skip either of these steps, your bankruptcy could be delayed or dismissed, forcing you to start over. Your attorney can help you sign up for counseling and provide proof of completion to the court.
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