Nevada Same Day Bankruptcy Filings with Erik Severino

How Filing Bankruptcy Can Stop Your Creditors in Their Tracks

If you have debts that have gotten out of control, you probably have received credible threats of collections from one or more of your creditors. If you are behind on your mortgage or car payments, you might be concerned about a home foreclosure or vehicle repossession. If your creditor has a judgment against you, you could be worried about a wage garnishment or a bank account levy. The good news is that filing bankruptcy can stop your creditors in their tracks. When you file bankruptcy, the automatic stay goes into action, preventing your creditors from proceeding with all the collection methods described above. But filing bankruptcy is a complicated process that can often take several months of planning. Our Nevada bankruptcy team offers expedited filing for clients in emergency situations, enjoying the protections from the automatic stay before creditors can proceed with collection. Call our office or fill out our online form for more information.

What Do I Need for a Same Day Nevada Bankruptcy Filing?

If your financial situation is coming down to the wire, you may be able to file bankruptcy the same day if you are adequately prepared. Your specific Las Vegas bankruptcy attorney may have their own requirements, but in general, you can expect to need:

Your Driver’s License & Social Security Card

A passport or other government-issued photo identification will work in place of a driver’s license, and a W-2 can be used instead of a social security card. Your attorney will need these forms of identification to complete your petition and pull your credit report. You will also need to have them at your 341 Meeting of Creditors for identity verification purposes. Because this hearing will occur 30-45 days after you file your case, we recommend that any copies or replacements are obtained before you file your case.

Your First Credit Counseling Course Certificate

Whether you file a Las Vegas Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you’re required to complete two credit counseling courses for your case to be discharged. The first of these must be completed before your petition is filed. You should generally set aside about an hour and a half of your time to complete this course. It will also come with a relatively small fee, about $15-$30. It can be completed online, and is not graded or pass-fail; you just need to complete the course. If you retain a bankruptcy attorney, they should automatically be sent a copy of your course completion certificate.

Your Bankruptcy Filing Fee

The filing fee must be paid when your petition is filed, unless you qualify to pay your fee in installments or for a fee waiver. Someone who has retained a bankruptcy attorney is more than likely not going to qualify for a fee waiver. The filing fee for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is $313. The filing fee for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is $338.

Six Months of Pay Information

When you file emergency bankruptcy, you still need to make sure you file under the correct chapter based on your income. If you are married and your spouse is employed, you will need to include their pay information as well. You need to include income information from all sources, including tips and side hustles. If you aren’t on a salary, your income will be averaged over the last 6 months for income qualification purposes.

Your Tax Returns

While these documents aren’t quite necessary for a skeleton petition, if you are behind on tax return filings, it is unlikely that you will be able to catch your tax filings up to date and prepare your standard bankruptcy petition in the time allotted.

Any Intake Information Requested By Your Experienced Vegas BK Attorney

Your attorney will probably need you to fill out some type of form that summarizes your financial situation, as well as includes current and past addresses and other contact information. You should inform your attorney as soon as possible if you learn or realize that any of the information provided in that form is incorrect.

How Does Emergency Bankruptcy Work?

Bankruptcy is already complicated enough without adding in the factor of an emergency filing. An emergency bankruptcy petition is also sometimes referred to as a skeleton petition, or a skeleton filing. You or your attorney will first need to complete a skeleton petition, which only requires basic information and information about your income from the past 6 months. After filing this petition, you will have 2 weeks to submit the rest of your bankruptcy petition. Your bankruptcy attorney will probably have an earlier deadline for you to submit your documents, so they have adequate time to prepare and file your petition. However, you will be protected by the automatic stay beginning from when you file your skeleton petition.

Which Chapter Should I File for Bankruptcy in Nevada?

Just because you will be filing a standard bankruptcy petition within 2 weeks of your emergency petition, doesn’t mean that you can file under either chapter without regard to your income. Your skeleton petition needs to be filed under the correct chapter, or there could be severe consequences for your case. The main factor that influences most people’s choice is their income. Chapter 7 is only available to those without sufficient income to pay off a significant amount of their debts, while Chapter 13 is designed for debtors with steady income. There are two ways to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Nevada. The default method is to compare your household income to Nevada’s median income for your family size. For 2022, the median household income for a Nevada household of one is $54,394 per year. This increases to $69,804 for a family of two, $77,536 for a family of three, $84,764 for a family of four, and so on. When your income is higher than the state median for your family size, you will need to use the means test to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This method finds your average monthly income after mandatory expenses have been paid. If this number isn’t enough to make significant progress on your debts, you will be eligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Nevada works far differently from Chapter 7 because it reorganizes debts into a payment plan that lasts 3 or 5 years. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy can help you make progress on debts that can’t be discharged in bankruptcy, like child support and student loans. It can also help you catch up on past-due payments for secured assets like your house or car. Filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy without an attorney is difficult, but you can basically assume that your case will fail if you file Chapter 13 without an attorney. Keep in mind, more than 99% of cases end in dismissal.

High Quality Nevada Bankruptcy Attorneys with Low Budget Prices

When you need to file bankruptcy fast, our Las Vegas Bankruptcy law firm is equipped to handle this and any other specialty issues in your case. With the right preparation, we can get your case filed the next day or even same day in emergency circumstances. We also offer payment plans that are uniquely designed to work with your budget in that they begin AFTER your case has been filed. If you’re facing a wage garnishment, repossession, or foreclosure, you don’t have time to wait. Call our bankruptcy office to get started with your free case evaluation today. Additional Information regarding bankruptcy and debt relief can be found here. Contact our Las Vegas Bankruptcy Offices Today!

Additional Bankruptcy Information at:

Bankruptcy Attorney Blog

Henderson Bankruptcy Lawyers

Vegas Zero Down BK Attorneys

Chandler Bankruptcy Lawyers

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyers

Mesa Bankruptcy Attorneys

Phoenix Bankruptcy Attorneys

Tucson Bankruptcy Attorneys