Iowa Bankruptcy Attorney

877-888-1766

Bankruptcy Eligibility & Means Test Analysis

If you would like an attorney to review your situation to determine if you are eligilble to file a Chapter 7, 11, 12, or 13 bankruptcy, please answer each of the following questions as accurately as possible, and we will notify you by phone or email of our analysis, free of charge. Each of the following questions must be answered before we will be able to conduct the analysis. Should you receive an error message upon clicking the Submit button, please verify that you are visiting the www.IowaChapter7.com website, and not an alias domain name. This form only works on the one site. Should you continue to receive an error message, please communicate with our office by other means suggested on our home page.

First Name:
Last Name:
email address:
Home phone:
Cell phone:
Best time (day and time) to reach you:
What is your before tax gross annual household income?:
What is your household size (including part-time residents in joint custody situations)?:
What is the approximate amount of your secured debt (home/car loans)?:
What is the approximate amount of your unsecured debt (credit cards, medical,utility)?:
Are there any judgments or pending lawsuits against you?:
Are your wages or bank accounts currently being garnished or levied?:
If applicable, are you current on your home and car loans (secured debt)?:
Are you currently going through a foreclosure?:
Does anyone in your household own a business?:
Have you filed bankruptcy in the last eight years?:
Have you lived in Iowa for the past three years?:
Do you owe student loans, taxes, child support or alimony:
What search engine did you use to locate this website?:
What search terms did you use to locate this website?:

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                                                                GETTING STARTED

In order to schedule a free initial consultation with an attorney, please download our letter and a bankruptcy questionnaire, along with a copy of frequently asked questions, or you can obtain these documents from our office if you cannot download and print them from here. You can also use the long-hand version of the questionnaire if you prefer to print the questionnaire and fill it out in pen.

Once you complete the questionnaire and the tasks listed in the letter, please return the questionnaire to our central office where documents are stored, either by email, fax, or regular mail, along with your pay stubs for the past six months, all your most recent debt and credit card statements (and a credit report if you have one), and your last-filed tax return. W2s do NOT serve as a substitute to your paystubs over the past six months. Often times your employer can print out a statement summary for you in the event you do not retain pay stubs.

If you cannot download and print these documents here, you can obtain them by emailing Margo at mpetsche@beecherlaw.com and requesting one to be emailed, faxed, or mailed to you. If you do not like to use email, you may call us at our toll free number to request one. That number is 1-877-888-1766. Keep in mind that due to the large call volume, if all of our staff is assisting other clients, you may receive a busy signal, or your call may be rolled over to voice mail. Be sure to leave a message if that happens, however, the fastest service will be downloading this information off this web site, or e-mailing us with your request. Our fax number is 1-319-234-1225.

Once we receive those items (Questionnaire, pay stubs, tax return, credit report (if available), and monthly debt statements), we will call you to schedule your appointment. You can select from one of our several office or meeting locations throughout Eastern Iowa, or you may opt for the $200 telephone discount.

This website also contains other helpful documents such as FAQs (frequently asked questions), required disclosures, and a checklist which you can review by clicking onto those links. Although we have offices and meeting locations throughout the region, all of our documents are processed through our Waterloo, Iowa office. When sending documents by regular mail, please send them to that office at 620 Lafayette Street, Suite 300, Waterloo, Iowa 50703, or P.O. Box 178, Waterloo, Iowa 50704. If you send documents to other offices, or drop them off, I will get them, but it may delay matters by a day or two while re-routing them to central filing for scanning and storing.

We strive to be a paperless office, so if you have everything saved in electronic format (i.e. .pdf), feel free to email your information to Margo at mpetsche@beecherlaw.com instead of mailing it, as it will save time and postage, and it will speed up the process in getting in to see an attorney. There are several commercial locations where you can scan and email your documents to our office.  This reduces the risk that your information would be delayed or lost at the postal sevice, and speeds up the process by at least two days.

When sending your invoices and debt statements to me, it helps if your bills and invoices are pulled from their envelopes, promotional material discarded, and the statements neatly stacked and paper clipped together. I will also need to know if these debts have been turned over to any collection agencies or attorneys as we need to list them on your schedules as well. If I do not have the billing statement, the debt will not be listed, unless you can provide me with all of the information I need about the creditor and the debt, such as name, address, account number and balance. Pulling your credit report from Equifax, or from all three credit reporting agencies, and providing us with a copy is also very helpful, but is no substitute for sending your latest invoices. A free one can be pulled annually at www.annualcreditreport.com.

If you want to get organized for filing a bankruptcy petition, over and above preparing for your free initial consultation with an attorney, you can gather the following items for our review (you do not need to send these to me now, and these are not necessary for the first free initial consultation meeting):

1. Your most recent loan statements and /or payment books for all loans secured by real estate, automobiles, or other assets. I will need to know the payoff of each loan, the approximate dates these loans were taken, and what the loan was for.

2. The legal descriptions and locations of any real property owned (a copy of the legal description can be made from your deed or abstract or sometimes off your county assessor's web site).

3. Information (quarterly statement) about annuities; IRAs, ERISA, Keogh or other pension or profit sharing plans; stocks and bonds; alimony, maintenance, support and property settlements, and life insurance policies.

My fees are discussed in detail on the FAQ link. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BRING ANY MONEY TO OUR FIRST MEETING TOGETHER. The meeting is free of charge, and there is no obligation to file or to continue with my services.