When you file a Chapter 13 case, your attorney will have to prepare a repayment plan that will ultimately be approved by the court. If your repayment plan is not confirmed, then all of the hard work of you and your bankruptcy lawyer will go to waste. So it is critical to propose the perfect plan. Your entire case will be dismissed and you and your lawyer will have to start over. What’s worse, the court may bar you from filing for 180 days. If you had filed bankruptcy to stop foreclosure of your home, you could end up losing your home. The fact is, a large number of cases filed with the Court are dismissed for failure to present a confirmable plan. One reason for this is that recently there has been a large influx of attorneys who have added bankruptcy law to the broad range of practice areas that they handle. It is very unlikely that an attorney who does not specialize in Chapter 13 practice could propose a repayment plan that is feasible, meets the Federal requirements, and can be approved by the court.
How to Prepare a Chapter 13 Plan that Will Be Approved by the Court
Preparing the perfect plan truly requires hiring a lawyer that is a Chapter 13 specialist, as it requires a consideration of many different factors that only a lawyer that specializes in repayment plans is qualified to do. Preparing a plan that the Court is likely to approve requires consideration of your disposable income under Federal legal standards, your current income and expenses, any arrears on your home loan, the amount of your car balance(s) and when you took out your car loan(s), whether you qualify for doing a lien strip, and a multitude of other factors that your lawyer must consider.
Equally important, preparing the perfect plan in San Diego bankruptcy cases requires familiarity with the local attitudes and practices of the San Diego trustees and judges. Such familiarity is not magically acquired by an attorney simply by adding Chapter 13 practice to the list of practice areas that an attorney has decided to practice. Rather, it requires a high frequency of communication with the San Diego trustees, both inside and outside bankruptcy hearings. In addition, it requires substantial experience appearing before bankruptcy judges for the specific purpose of arguing Chapter 13 cases in order to know the judges’ positions on issues where the attorney disagrees with the practices or views of the trustees.
If done correctly, you can propose a repayment plan that will be approved by the Court. A San Diego bankruptcy attorney who is a Chapter 13 specialist can prepare the perfect repayment plan that will have a very high likelihood of success and being confirmed by the court.
