When selecting your attorney, if you are reviewing or consulting with a number of attorneys take care to not select the one that overly pushes you into filing bankruptcy.
I see all too often debtors filing with only $5,000 in unsecured debt. Unless some extenuating circumstance exists, this is not in the best interest of the client because it assumes that the client will not incur any other obligations in the near future. The number one reason people file bankruptcy is because of an unsuspecting medical issue. When a client is pushed or urged into filing bankruptcy with a relatively small amount of debt, it leaves the client without the protection of bankruptcy for another 8 years. In other words, if the client files today and six months later incurs $30,000 in medical debt, the client will not be able to do anything about the new debt for 7 and a half years.
Make sure your bankruptcy attorney is really giving you the best advise about your situation, and that he isn’t pushing you into filing just to make a buck. The threshold to file, in the usual circumstance is at least $10,000 in unsecured debt. I have had clients file with as low as $8,000 in unsecured debt, but at that point is the client’s judgment.
