St. Louis Bankruptcy Lawyers Blog
ONLY $675 ATTORNEY FEES FOR A ST LOUIS CHAPTER 7
No, the Bankruptcy Court can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do. However, if you have an asset that has a lot of equity (and more specifically, equity that cannot be exempted by statute), then a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee can demand that you turn over those assets (so that he/she can liquidate them, and use the proceeds to pay off your creditors).
So for instance, let’s say you are thinking about filing a St Louis Chapter 7. And you have a 2012 car that is paid in full (no outstanding loan balance). In that kind of situation, there is very little chance that your attorney can exempt the car (i.e. keep it safe). That means that if you were to file a Ch7, there is a very good likelihood that the Trustee would demand that you turn over the car to him/her (so that it can liquidated at a sale).
Sometimes a deal can be worked out between you and the Trustee in which you “buy out” the equity that exists in the car. But in the example given above, you would end up paying the Trustee thousands and thousands of dollars over a short period of time (maybe only a few months).
ONLY $300 UPFRONT ATTORNEY FEES FOR A ST LOUIS CHAPTER 13
But the original question of this post is “Will I be forced to sell my possessions?” No, you will not be required to sell your assets. Again, the Trustee has the option of demanding that you turn over assets that have a great deal of value.
So what happens if you file a St Louis bankruptcy in which the Trustee demands you turn over your car to be liquidated, and you refuse to do so? Then the Trustee will inform the court of your decision, and request that you not receive a discharge of your debts (which is the whole point in filing a Ch7, so that you can knock out your unsecured debts like credit cards, medical bills, and payday loans).
But the best way to figure out if any of your assets would be subject to liquidation is to confer with an experienced attorney!! We will answer all your questions, explain you full range of options, and help guide you through the process step by step.
The affordable St. Louis bankruptcy attorneys at The Bankruptcy Company have been saving and protecting people’s assets for years. Our goal is to make sure that you keep the assets and property you want, discharge the debts that you want to get rid of, and do it all at an affordable cost to you. All phone conversations and office consultations are free of charge.