What You Need To Know About Bankruptcy Proof Of Claim Court
It's not a great moral sin to go into bankruptcy. Just look at the seminal American department store chain Kmart - they went bankrupt in 2002 and rebounded a mere 15 months later. When you (or Kmart) declare bankruptcy, this gives you a breather to try and get your life back together without the people you owe money to breathing down your neck. In the old days, if you couldn't pay your bills, you were thrown into debtor's prison. Believe it or not, going through bankruptcy Proof of Claim court is better than going to prison.
Only As A Last Resort
Declaring bankruptcy will stay on your credit record for ten years, so be sure you have no last resort. Bankruptcy Proof of Claim court's rules and regulations differ from state to state. The only state you need to worry about is the state you live in (or state of your primary residence.) You can do this all on your own or hire a lawyer. If you are not familiar with bankruptcy Proof of Claim court, then it will cheaper in the long run to hire a lawyer. You and the lawyer need to decide between a Chapter 7 bankruptcy (liquidation of everything you own) or a Chapter 13 (a repayment plan).
A Proof of Claim needs to be filed within 90 days of your meetings with your main creditors (banks or credit card companies, for example). You are called the debtor. Whoever you owe money to is called a creditor. They have to give you about 100 days before they have a meeting with you (called a "341 meeting") where you officially declare bankruptcy. The creditors have to file Proof of Claim forms, not you, with the bankruptcy Proof of Claim court. If they don't do this on time, they will loose any right to your financial corpse, so to speak.
Other Tips
When you declare bankruptcy, for goodness' sake, do not use any credit cards. This will look bad to any state's bankruptcy Proof of Claim court. If you are worried about your employer or landlord being notified of your bankruptcy, don't (unless you owe them money). Federal law requires that your employer and landlord need not be informed of your bankruptcy. However, bankruptcy claims are considered public records. But it would be up to your employer or landlord to check the public records out, but honestly, how often does the average America decide to causally go through public records concerning bankruptcy?
