Chapter 7, for a person or a business when the debt is past paying
Debt rarely arrives all at once. A layoff, a medical bill, a slow season at the shop, a divorce, and then the minimum payments stop covering anything. By the time most people call a bankruptcy attorney, the envelopes have been stacking up on the kitchen table for a while. Apple Street Law Office P.L.C. files Chapter 7 bankruptcy for individuals and for businesses, and the first meeting is a free consultation where you can say how bad it has actually gotten.
Chapter 7 is the form of bankruptcy most people have heard of. In plain terms, it is a court process for debt that cannot realistically be repaid, and the attorney will tell you how it applies to your situation and to what you own. Nobody can promise you an outcome before looking at your papers, and this office will not try. What it can do is lay out the options in order and let you decide which path you want to take.
Kimberly S. Young has represented debtors in bankruptcy for sixteen years, in both the Western and Eastern Districts of Michigan. Before law school she worked as a paralegal for Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustees, so she knows how the paperwork looks from the trustee's side of the desk as well as the debtor's.
Chapter 13 and Chapter 12, when you want to keep what you have
Not everyone wants to walk away from everything. Some people want to keep the house, the truck they drive to work, or the farm they work, and they are willing to repay what they can over time. Chapter 13 is the reorganization chapter for individuals, built around a repayment plan that the court oversees. Whether it fits you depends on facts the attorney will go over with you in person.
Chapter 12 is the reorganization chapter written for family farmers, and it matters for farm families in Barry County and the counties around it, where equipment loans, leases and seasonal income are part of how people live. The firm lists Chapter 12 among the bankruptcy matters it handles. If you farm and the payments no longer line up with the year, ask the office whether Chapter 12 deserves a closer look.
In both chapters the goal is a plan you can keep to, month after month. Kimberly Young sits on the Board of Directors of the Debtors Bar of West Michigan and is a former president. Michael J. McPhillips is a former treasurer of the same group. Bankruptcy is the firm's stated specialty, and the people doing the work have spent years in it.
Chapter 11, creditor representation, and the form to bring
Chapter 11 is the reorganization chapter for a business that is still operating and wants to restructure its debts rather than close. Apple Street Law Office P.L.C. handles Chapter 11 reorganizations. It also handles Chapter 11 creditor representations, which is the other side of the same table: a business or a person who is owed money and needs someone protecting that claim while another party's case moves through the court.
Before your first bankruptcy appointment, the office asks you to print, read and sign a brief form. It exists so the appointment can get to your situation quickly, and it is worth asking for when you call. You can request it by phone or through the contact page. Bring it filled out, bring the papers that worry you most, and expect to be asked plenty of questions.
Whatever the chapter, the consultation is free, and there are discounted rates for seniors and veterans with proof. The point of the first meeting is to find out which path, if any, fits your situation. The attorney will explain what each option means for you, and the decision stays yours.
