Thomson, GA Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

They don't put you in jail for not paying child support unless the judge finds that you can afford it but don't obey the order intentionally or you could afford it if you looked for work. Jail is to force you to comply and not to punish so no sense in putting a person in jail if impossible for the person to comply due to unemployment that you cannot be avoided. There is a criminal charge the District Attorney can file for intentional failure to support in the past but the person has the right to a jury trial, an appointed lawyer and all other rights of criminal defendants. Filing a Chapter 13 will stop the jailing by the family law judge to make a person comply (since the person is complying by paying under the protection of the bankruptcy court) but the person must pay the entire amount owed in support in a plan with a maximum five year term plus ongoing support payments. It does not sound like your friend can qualify for a Chapter 13 due to lack of income. Chapter 7 will do him no good regarding child support. If he was convicted of a criminal charge for failure to support then he might be on probation that requires him to keep current on support or have his probation violated and be sent to jail to serve the original sentence. Bankruptcy will also stop a violation of probation for nonpayment but only if he is in a Chapter 13 that requires payment of the child support arrears and ongoing support. In other words, there is no probation violation if payments are being made through a Chapter 13 Plan.

Applies to Colorado bankruptcy only: First check the internet or yellow pages and find 3 attorneys with lots of bankruptcy experience: at least 2000 cases filed and at least 10 years bankruptcy experience, then interview them. If you know someone who has filed bankruptcy, ask them for a referral. Check the Colorado Supreme court website for any record of disciplinary action against the attorneys you are considering and also check at the Colorado Supreme Court website to find out whether your attorney has malpractice insurance. An attorney without insurance may indicate that said attorney is uninsurable due to malpractice claims. In the past several years the market has been saturated with new bankruptcy attorneys, these attorneys are great at marketing with slick google advertising and websites. Many of them advertise low fees (such as bankruptcy from $499), but rarely charge said low fee. Some of the bankruptcy mills that charge low fees have a paralegal do most of the bankruptcy documents. Find an attorney that will spend at least 3 hours with you (one on one) in preparing your case.