BANKRUPTCY Clients

No Charge CONSULTATION

I do not charge for the initial consultation. It is a free consultation. The initial consultations includes a debt and budget analysis with recommendations based on your achievable goals.

Charges and Fees for Filing Bankruptcy

Chapter 13 base attorney fees are set by the bankruptcy judges. This means you can hire an experienced Board Certified bankruptcy attorney, like myself, for the same price as a larger volume law firm would charge you for a junior staff lawyer or paralegal. If your case required additional work, I would have to ask permission from the Court for a higher fee and show my detailed time logs to justify the amounts.

In the Eastern Districts of Texas the basic fees for a non-business bankruptcy related case set by the judge is $4,500.00. The Northern District of Texas has a base of $4250.00. Generally I take $500 down for a chapter 13 unless it is complicated or an emergency(ie day before foreclosure or eviction) then the downpayment may be higher. The basic fees for business related cases are between $5000-$5500. The court costs are $313.00 for Chapter 13 cases. I will analyze the complexity of your case at the initial consultation, and down payment and we will agree on a mutually acceptable payment plan through the Chapter 13 Trustee. The majority of the remaining balance in the chapter 13 is paid from the payments that you make to the Chapter 13 Trustee.

I practice bankruptcy in both the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas. See bottom of page for the list of most of the counties served by me.

Chapter 7 basic attorney fees are set by the attorney however they are reviewed by the United States Trustee for reasonableness. The basic fee depends on the complexity of the case. Usually for the simplest case, the fee is $2000 plus court costs of $338. I also give a discount to people on a fixed income such as social security or disability. Business chapter 7 cases are more expensive for obvious reasons due to complexity with fees starting at $2500-$4000. I am willing to discuss payment arrangements with you in the event that the upfront payment is more than you can afford.

The base chapter 7 fee includes:

• Subsequent consultations after initial consultation and Assistance in the preparation of the State­ment of Affairs and Schedules and Means Testing;
• Attendance with you at one (1) meeting of credi­tors (the “Section 341 Meeting”); and
• Normal and routine creditor contact.
• Reaffirmation agreements

Besides the base fee and court cost deposit, we rarely may incur other out-of-pocket expenses such as long distance, photocopying, and postage.

For other services, we may charge an extra fee and may require an extra retainer

Such extra services include:

• Defense of adversary proceedings where a creditor has requested a determination that your debt to it should not be discharged;
• Motions to lift stay” where a creditor requests that the Court allow it to foreclose on your property;
• Lien avoidance actions;
• Excessive Amendments to the Schedules or Statement to include matters that you forgot to inform us about; and
• Complaints and/or Proceedings that you may wish to file – e.g. a suit against the IRS to determine that back taxes are dischargeable.
• Sales or refinancing of homesteads

The above list does not include everything but represents the type of “extra” matters or services not included in the basic retainer. If you believe that you may require any “extra ser­vices,” please inform me at the earliest possible time. Proper arrangements concerning them can then be made and your in­terests protected. If you do not disclose all of your assets or debts or if you do not tell the truth and any Complaints or Motions are filed I maintain the absolute right to withdraw as your counsel as I will not represent anyone who is not truthful and forthcoming with me

Business cases or cases with a large number of creditors will likely be a higher fee due to the fact that more time is required to handle them.  Please call 214-522-3669 to discuss the fee arrangement available.

The Northern District of Texas includes the following counties

Archer	Armstrong	Bailey	Baylor
Borden	Briscoe	Brown	Callahan
Carson	Castro	Childress	Clay
Cochran	Coke	Coleman	Collingsworth
Comanche	Concho	Cottle	Crockett
Crosby	Dallam	Dallas	Dawson
Deaf Smith	Dickens	Donley	Eastland
Ellis	Erath	Fisher	Floyd
Foard	Gaines	Garza	Glasscock
Gray	Hale	Hall	Hansford
Hardeman	Hartley	Haskell	Hemphill
Hockley	Hood	Howard	Hunt
Hutchinson	Irion	Jack	Johnson
Jones	Kaufman	Kent	King
Knox	Lamb	Lipscomb	Lubbock
Lynn	Menard	Mills	Mitchell
Montague	Moore	Motley	Navarro
Nolan	Ochiltree	Oldham	Palo Pinto
Parker	Parmer	Potter	Randall
Reagan	Roberts	Rockwall	Runnels
Schleicher	Scurry	Shackelford	Sherman
Stephens	Sterling	Stonewall	Sutton
Swisher	Tarrant	Taylor	Terry
Throckmorton	Tom Green	Wheeler	Wichita
Wilbarger	Wise	Yoakum	Young

The Eastern District of Texas serves the following counties

To contact me by email, please use this address: hollyguelich@sbcglobal.net.