Bankruptcy

It is still possible for most people to get debt relief in bankruptcy. Many people calling us now have heard rumors that last year's changes made it almost impossible to discharge consumer debts such as credit cards or medical bills. This is simply not correct.

The new law requires completion of additional forms based on your household income over the six months prior to the filing of the bankrupcty. This is the Means Test. Your actual income is compared to the median income in the state for the size of your household. For example, the median income for a family of 4 in Oregon for 2005 was $61,209.00. If your household consists of 4 people and the income for the last 6 months was less than half that amount, the Means Test will not apply to you.

If you are above that amount the Means Test does apply to you. The IRS standards for living expenses are used to determine if you should be required to file Chapter 13 instead of Chapter 7. In addition, they may be used to determine how much your monthly payment would have to be in the Chapter 13 case.

To understand the differences between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, you will need to review some of the questions below. However, for purposes of understanding the new law, all you will need to know is that Chapter 7 is shorter, usually three months, while Chapter 13 is usually much longer, at least 36 months and requires that you make monthly payments.

For many people, the IRS standards are higher than their actual expenses for some items and lower for others. It is not uncommon for people to be above median income but still able to do Chapter 7 because the IRS standards do not leave any disposable income.

Hoewever, it is important to remember that much of bankruptcy law was not changed by the new law, such as the likelihood that anyone who will have substantial disposable income as a result of a bankruptcy may be required to do Chapter 13.

The trustee's office has long reviewed Chapter 7 cases and in any case in which post bankruptcy income exceeds reasonable and necessary expenses by $200.00 or more.

This means that the net effect of the new law is that more people will probably have to file Chapter 13 instead of Chapter 7. This means that before discharging any of their debts, they would have to make 36 monthly payments into a Chapter 13 Plan based on their disposable income.

We believe one of the basic rules of bankruptcy is that you should not file unless or until you have to. For different people, this means different things, but if there is a reasonable alternative to bankruptcy, you will be happier if you avoid filing bankruptcy.

Sometimes, it is simply unavoidable and is the best decision for everyone concerned. You may feel more comfortable though if you explore other alternatives first. If you own real estate or a residence, you may wish to look into refinancing or obtaining a second mortgage. If new financing would let you pay off enough debt to allow you to pay your debts on time each month and your monthly payment would be low enough that you can handle it while still accumulating emergency money, you should seriously consider the refinancing. It might be better than the bankruptcy.

One of the good things about the new law is that it makes every consumer go through a credit counseling session before filing bankruptcy. We always thought that it was a good idea to check with a debt payment or reduction service such as Consumer Credit Counseling. Now it is the law.

They can tell you whether you may be able to avoid bankruptcy by going through a debt repayment program. Usually, you need to have some income left over each month after your living expenses to have to pay towards your debts and you have to have the kind of debts with the kind of creditors who are willing to work with a debt reduction service. Not all creditors are willing to work with these programs.

We strongly recommend that you avoid borrowing against or withdrawing money from a retirement account. Since those investments will grow tax free for years, a dollar withdrawn now could represent a lot more dollars that you will not have when you need to retire.

The fees for bankruptcy now depend upon how much your case is affected by the 2005 changes to the bankruptcy laws. Our usual fee for a typical consumer Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, in which the household income for the last 6 months is less than the median income for the state for your household size, is $1,200.00 for legal fees plus the $299.00 filing fee. This includes all of the services necessary for a basic Chapter 7 Bankruptcy including advising you about your options, helping you decide what chapter to file, completing of all of the paperwork, responding to questions from your creditors and the trustee and representing you at the Meeting of Creditors.

If your household income for the last six months is above the median income, an additional complicated form must be fully completed. We usually charge an additional $300.00 if it is going to be necessary to do so. Furthermore, if you have debts that you plan to reaffirm, we usually charge an additional $100.00 for each such debt. The 2005 changes require a much longer and more complicated process for reaffirmation.

The usual fees to start a Chapter 13 are similar to those for a Chapter 7. However, the total fees for Chapter 13 are based on an hourly rate so that you pay just for the legal services you actually use. A retainer, usually $1,000.00 to $1,500.00, and the filing fee of $274.00 must be paid before the case can be filed. You are billed on an hourly rate but you do not make any more payments directly to us. Instead, the rest of the legal fees are paid by the Chapter 13 trustee from the payments you make into the Chapter 13 plan.

Finally, if your case is more complicated in other ways, we reserve the right to quote a higher fee before we start to represent you. We will explain why your case is more complicated so that we can not take it for our usual fee. Cases involving a business almost always cost more. However, we handle most cases for the fees described above.

We handle a great number of business as well as personal bankruptcies. We have had a great deal of success reorganizing debts for businesses in both Chapter 13 and Chapter 11 cases.

Business bankruptcies are much more complex than personal bankruptcies and for this reason many firms will not handle them, especially Chapter 11 cases. Unfortunately, corporations and limited liability companies have to file Chapter 11 if they want to reorganize. It can be difficult to find an experienced firm to handle a Chapter 11 case. We have over 15 years of successful representation of companies in Chapter 11 cases.

In general it is not possible to state the fees for handling a business bankruptcy because each situation is completely different. Please call to discuss your situation and get a quote for the retainer needed to begin representation.

We can start to represent you when you pay the first $300.00 of the legal fees in your case. However, we cannot file the case until the rest of the fees and the filing fee are paid in full. We call this fee the six-month, $300.00, non-refundable retainer. It means that the first $300.00 which you pay toward the legal fees is non-refundable. Even if you decide not to file the bankruptcy, you do not get back this first $300.00. We earn it by agreeing to take your case. Paying the first $300.00 officially retains us and allows you to start referring creditors to us if you are getting phone calls at home or at work. We reserve the right to request a higher non-refundable retainer depending on the individual circumstances of each case.

If you have paid us the first $300.00 of the legal fees, you can tell your creditors that you have hired an attorney to help you with your financial problems and ask them to call us. Usually it discourages them from suing you or pursuing other collection efforts because they know that you are serious about filing bankruptcy.

If you are still receiving calls from the same creditors after you have asked them not to call you any more, you should ask them to identify themselves and get their phone numbers. We can refer you to attorneys who handle cases involving creditor violations of the collection rules. So keep track if they call you back after you have asked them to call us.

If you have not retained us, you should tell your creditors when they call that you can not afford to pay them and ask them not to call you anymore. If they are calling you at work, you should tell them that you are not allowed to receive personal calls at work and not to call you at work anymore. Just as you would do if you had already retained us, if you are still receiving calls from the same creditors after you have asked them not to call you any more, you should ask them to identify themselves and get their phone numbers. We can refer you to attorneys who handle cases involving creditor violations of the collection rules.

The basic fee does not include things that are unusual or that do not happen in most routine, consumer bankruptcy cases. For example, one thing that is not included is the removal of judgment liens from the state court judgment dockets. While the bankruptcy discharges the debt, it does not set aside the judgment lien itself. Our usual fee for the removal of a judgment lien as part of a bankruptcy is an additional $350.00 flat fee.

Our usual fee does not include preparing for or handling Court Hearings on the issues of median income or the Means Test. The cost of completing the forms is included in the usual fee but if you decide to contest a decision by the trustee that your case should be in Chapter 13 instead of Chapter 7, the fees for handling that contest would be handled on an hourly basis.

Our usual fee also does not include any additional legal services responding to certain situations that happen infrequently but still do come up for some clients. These situations include handling motions to dismiss, objections to claims of exemption or adversary proceedings to object to the dischargeability of any one particular debt or objections to the discharge of all of your debts. Additional legal services in these situations are handled on an hourly rate.

These situations arise very rarely, usually involving significant charges to your credit cards or lines of credit in the months before you filed bankruptcy. They also may come up if there was a substantial increase in your overall consumer debt over a period of six months to one year before you file bankruptcy. Sometimes problems will come out of inflated claims of income or value of assets on a financial statement used to obtain a loan.

In other cases, the trustee may file a Motion to Dismiss on the grounds that you have enough disposable income to make payments in a Chapter 13 case and should not be allowed to get a Chapter 7 discharge. Our usual fee does not include opposing a Motion to Dismiss by the trustee or anyone else.

There are always ways to deal with these situations when they come up, but it does cost more. Additional legal services in these situations are also handled on an hourly rate. However, it is important that you let us know if you have used your credit cards a lot or incurred substantial amounts of new credit card or other debt in the year prior to filing a bankruptcy. It is important that you understand that our usual fee for a bankruptcy does not include fees for handling these kinds of situations.

On an emergency basis, such as a pending garnishment or foreclosure sale, we can file a case the same day if we start in the morning or early in the afternoon. In an emergency, the Court allows us to file a minimum filing and some basic information and gives us 15 days to complete the rest of the documents. If it is not an emergency, it usually takes approximately one week to ten days to go through the paperwork together, proofread it and review it with you before it is filed with the Court.

Usually the Meeting of Creditors is held within the first 25-45 days after the case is filed. Most cases end when the discharge of debts is entered by the Court, approximately 2 months after the Meeting of Creditors.

To begin with, Bankruptcy is a complex area of law. There are a lot of ins and outs and pitfalls for the unadvised or unwary. We think that this is one time in your life when you need good legal advice. It is not a good idea to risk your chance at a fresh start under the bankruptcy laws just to save a little money. If you use a document preparation service or paralegal or fill out forms that you get from the stationary store or off of the internet, you have no one who can give you legal advice about your specific circumstances.

Often people who do not have an attorney have a greater risk of getting family, friends or business associates who tried to help them out involved in their bankruptcy case. There are strict rules about loan guarantees, repayments or sales or other transfers with such individuals that are very complicated. Family members have found themselves sued by the trustee in a case filed without a lawyer when simple legal advice could have spared them from the entanglement in the legal process. Document preparation services and paralegals are prohibited by law from giving you the legal advice that could protect you.

A good lawyer will make sure that you are protected and encourage you to ask questions about how the bankruptcy rules apply to your personal situation. Deciding to file bankruptcy is a difficult decision. No one wants to have to file bankruptcy. If you had your choice, you would repay all of your creditors. But sometimes, it becomes clear that you are not going to be able to so. The efforts of your creditors to collect will probably make it extremely difficult for you to provide for yourself and your family. If you are in this kind of situation, you need to get good solid legal advice about bankruptcy so you can make an informed decision about whether it is a responsible choice for you and your family.

In most cases, no one comes to your home. Everyone has exemptions for most of their normal furniture and personal possessions. Usually, the trustee relies upon your sworn statements in the bankruptcy documents and at the bankruptcy hearing. Though the trustee has the power to have someone examine any of your assets, it is virtually never done in most consumer cases unless the trustee has some reason to doubt your word.

We will help you complete all of the paperwork, either over the phone or in person. If you like, you do not have to fill out more than a simple one page questionnaire. It requires nothing more complicated than your name, address, social security number and other simple questions. We finish the documents together, either over the phone or in person. It only takes about 45 minutes. We consider it well worth the time to give our clients the peace of mind of knowing that the documents are correctly filled out.

Some firms that handle bankruptcy cases want their clients to complete all the paperwork by themselves. It is like trying to do 10 tax returns back to back. Serious problems can arise if information is left out or is outdated or if the question is not fully understood.

For this reason, it is extremely important that you give us accurate information. After all, we cannot give you the best legal service available if we do not know everything that we should about your financial situation. The only way to get the kind of in depth information we need is to work closely with you to make sure that the bankruptcy forms are correctly filled out.

You should try to be as accurate as you can in all of the answers and information that you provide, but if you make a mistake it is not the end of the world. It is possible to amend the schedules after you file. However, it is important that you review all of your paperwork very carefully because you have to sign a sworn statement under penalty of perjury that they are accurate.

The secret to a successful meeting with the trustee is reviewing your paperwork carefully before you sign it and making sure that you understand each question and the answer you have given. The trustees are very businesslike and do not get into the issue of how you got into financial trouble. They are simply focused on whether you have any assets that are non-exempt or whether you made any transfers that could be set aside.

The trustee's sole goal is to get money to pay to your creditors or determine as soon as possible that there are no assets to administer in your bankruptcy case. Unless there are scheduling conflicts, the attorney who helps you prepare and review the paperwork before you sign it will attend the meeting of creditors with you. When your case is called, we sit together with you in front of the trustee but you have to answer his questions. You have to raise your right hand and be sworn in and the trustee will begin to ask you questions. We are not allowed to answer for you.

We will send you a sheet you can review entitled "Questions You Are Likely to be Asked at Your Meeting of Creditors." We call it the high point of the bankruptcy because you must appear in public and answer any questions that the trustee and your creditors may have.

The Meeting of Creditors is mis-named because usually none of your creditors are there. It is usually just us and the trustee. If any problems come up, we have time to try to resolve them with the trustee. Nothing irreversible happens on that day as long as you tell the truth and answer all of the trustee's questions.

However, if you realize after the hearing that you have given an answer that is not true, please contact us immediately, as we can advise the trustee of the correction as soon as possible.

The questions all relate to the bankruptcy paperwork that we do together with you. Because we do it together, you know that you have understood and answered the questions correctly, and thus will be more relaxed when we go together to the Meeting of Creditors. However, usually none of your creditors show up. You probably will be there with just your attorney and the trustee.

A bankruptcy will remain a black mark on your credit for 10 years while "no pays" and "slow pays" only stay on your record for seven years. It will definitely narrow your credit opportunities. You may not be able to qualify for any credit for a while. When you finally are able to qualify, you may have to start with loans with high interest rates, especially for car loans. Bankruptcy should never be done lightly or if you have any reasonable alternative. However, if your credit is already bad, it may be possible to rebuild your credit faster after a bankruptcy than to try to save it through an extended payment plan.

A bankruptcy can discharge certain income taxes. In general, income taxes may be discharged in bankruptcy if they were first due more than 3 years before the bankruptcy is filed, but only if the tax returns were actually filed more than 2 years before the bankruptcy is started. However, you can not discharge taxes which were assessed or assessable in the last 8 months. This means that you should talk to a tax or bankruptcy attorney before filing old tax returns as it could result in 8 months of collection efforts such as garnishments or wage levies before you could file bankruptcy and stop the taxes from being collected and ultimately discharging them.

You can file another Chapter 7 case as soon as it has been eight years since the day that you filed your last Chapter 7 case. If you filed less than eight years ago and need to file again, you will have to file a Chapter 13 case when it has been at least four years since you filed your Chapter 7 case.

Chapter 7 is cheaper, easier and quicker than Chapter 13. For these reasons, most people choose Chapter 7 over Chapter 13. With Chapter 7, the case is usually over in 90 days. You can start to rebuild your credit immediately because all of your old debts have been discharged at the end of the case.

In Chapter 13, your case usually continues for 3-5 years. You do not have to pay all of your debts through the plan; you do have to pay according to the best of your ability for at least 3 years. You can't start to rebuild your credit as soon because your old debts aren't wiped out until you complete the 3-5 year payment plan.

If your household income for the last 6 months was more than the median income for the state for your household size, you may be required to pay for 5 years. Furthermore, the IRS standards, for housing, living, transportation, and other expenses will determine how much your monthly payment should be.

Many Chapter 13 cases are filed to stop foreclosure sales. Others are filed because of non-exempt assets, large tax liabilities, or substantial disposable income.

Chapter 13 can stop a foreclosure sale so you may be able to keep your house even though you are behind on payments. It can allow you to catch up on back mortgage or car payments to stop a repossesion or a foreclosure. Most people filing a Chapter 7 are also able to keep their house and vehicles. Of course, you usually have to keep making your house and car payments, but the discharge of other debts will make that easier.

Everyone has exemptions under Oregon State Law that protect certain assets. The exemptions include 75% of any wages owed to you at the time the bankruptcy petition was filed. Household goods and furnishings such as appliances and TV, stereo or home computer equipment and beds, tables and other furniture are exempt up to $3,000.00. These should be valued at replacement prices for similar used items, not what you paid for them.

Each person can have up to $1,800.00 in personal effects, jewelry and clothing so you will probably not lose your engagement or wedding ring. Again, these kind of assets are valued at liquidation prices, not what you paid for them.

The homestead exemption ranges from $15,000.00 to $39,600.00 and covers equity in your residence. The most common exemptions include your homestead exemption. It is $39,600.00 for a couple in a conventional house, $30,000.00 for an individual in a conventional house. It drops to $27,000.00 for a couple, or $23,000.00 for an individual, in a manufactured home and the land on which it is located. It is $25,000.00 for a couple, or $20,000.00 for an individual, in a manufactured home on a rented lot or in a park. In determining the equity covered by the exemption, the trustee would subtract the amounts owed on the property in mortgages and taxes as well as a 6% real estate commission and any other costs of sale.

Most retirement accounts are completely exempt, including 401(k)'s, pension plans and IRA's. Tools of the trade up to $3,000.00 are exempt, as is up to $3,000.00 in household goods and furnishings. Each individual has an exemption of up to $1,000.00 for a rifle or shotgun and a hand gun. Another exemption is $1,000.00 for domestic animals. Each individual also has a non-specific $400.00 exemption to be used to cover other assets including cash in the bank or tax refunds.

While most tax refunds are not exempt, any portion attributable to an Earned Income Credit is completely exempt.

The exemption for a vehicle is $2,150.00, but each individual debtor has an exemption so a husband and wife can have two vehicles and claim an exemption of $2,150.00 in each of them or can combine their two exemptions in one vehicle for an exemption of $4,300.00.

The exemptions protect the equity in your vehicle so the trustee would not take your car if the equity was less than $2,150.00.

The trustee has to get a substantial amount of money for non-exempt equity before it is worth it for him to try to take assets and sell them to get money for the creditors. In the case of a car worth $3,000.00, since the trustee would have to pay an auctioneer or someone else to sell the vehicle and because he would have to pay you the $2,150.00 exemption (or $4,300.00 for a couple), he would end up with less than $1,000.00 to distribute to creditors. Assuming all other assets were exempt, the trustee probably would not take the car away from you if it was worth $3,000.00, despite the fact that your exemption is only $2,150.00.

One of the most common reasons for filing Chapter 13 is to stop a foreclosure sale. Other than foreclosure, usually people choose to do Chapter 13 because they have problems that can not be handled under Chapter 7. There are two broad categories of problems that sometimes aren't resolved in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy: (1) Problems with assets and (2) Problems with debts.

1. Non Exempt Assets: If you have non-exempt assets, you can still keep them in a Chapter 13. You just have to pay the non-exempt equity, the value above the exemptions, less the expenses of a liquidation, over a 3-5 year period of time. This lets you keep all of your assets or just the ones you want to keep.
2. Stop foreclosure or repossession: If you are behind on payments on your house or your car, you can stop foreclosure or repossession with a Chapter 13. This is true even if the foreclosure sale has been scheduled or the lender is threatening repossession. Sometimes, we can even get the car back after it has been repossessed.
3. Behind on car or mortgage payments: If you are behind on payments on your house or your car, you also are allowed to make up the missed payments over a 3-5 year Chapter 13 Plan. You still have to make your current monthly mortgage payments but the past due ones can be paid over time through the plan. Unless your car payment is current and the car is worth more than you owe, you would not make any more car payments directly yourself. Instead the car would be paid off through the plan.
4. Secured debt that exceeds the value of the car or other collateral: Chapter 13 also allows the "cramdown" when a secured debt is forced down to the value of the collateral. For example, if you owed $12,000.00 on a car worth $5,000.00 that was purchased more than 910 days before you filed a Chapter 13, you could pay $5,000.00 plus interest through your Chapter 13 Plan and get the title to the car without paying the other $7,000.00. You can do a cramdown even if you are behind on your car payments.
5. Back taxes or child or spousal support when you are unlikely to qualify for a settlement or compromise: If you owe taxes or past due child or spousal support, and are unlikely to qualify for a settlement because you have either assets or income from which they could be paid, you still can pay them through a Chapter 13 Plan and have the Bankruptcy Court protect you from levies and garnishment while you make your payments.

6. The Means Test or substantial abuse (You could afford to pay some of your debt): In some cases, the trustee may file a Motion to Dismiss on the grounds that you have enough disposable income to make payments in a Chapter 13 case and should not be allowed to receive a Chapter 7 discharge. In other cases, the Means Test created by the 2005 law may keep you out of Chapter 7. If you have substantial income and will have significant disposable income, or if your debts were discharged there is a danger that your only choice will be Chapter 13.

In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the paperwork includes a Chapter 13 Plan. We fill out it together with you. In it, we propose how much money you will pay to the trustee each month and what he will do with it. There are several different standards or tests to determine how much the payment has to be. In addition, if your household income for the last 6 months was more than the median income for the state for your household size, you may be required to pay for 5 years. Furthermore, the IRS standards, including housing, living, transportation, and other expenses will determine how much your monthly payment should be.

The Chapter 13 trustee's job is to evaluate your Chapter 13 Plan and make a decision on whether to recommend it to the Court for approval. If he does not, he may request that we make changes in it before he will recommend approval by the Court.

In both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, we sit down together with you and do the paperwork. We will meet with the trustee with you and handle all communication with the trustee or your creditors. In this way, we can make sure that your rights are protected and your bankruptcy goes as smoothly as possible.

Our usual fee for starting a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is also $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 for legal fees plus a $274.00 filing fee. We may charge more to start your case if it is more complicated.

However, the total fee for handling a Chapter 13 case is much higher because the case goes on for 3-5 years. It often is $3,000.00 or more. The fee in a Chapter 13 case is determined on an hourly rate with a 1/10th of an hour minimum for any charge. The typical hourly rate is $195.00 per hour and so anything we do on your case will cost at least $19.50.

You do not pay more money to us directly after paying the legal fees and the filing fee to start the case, but the monthly payments that are proposed in your Chapter 13 Plan includes additional amounts to be paid on attorneys fees. These additional fees are paid by the trustee out of the payments that you make.

If we over-estimate the amount of fees that will be incurred, you are entitled to a refund at the end of the case. On the other hand, we can apply to the Court to have more paid to us through your plan in the event that we under-estimated the legal fees.

If you take steps to rebuild your credit and are careful to protect your credit in the future, you will be able to obtain credit and will be able to buy cars or a house in the future. Most people find that they can rebuild their credit in one and a half to two years. Bankruptcy narrows but certainly does not eliminate your credit opportunities.

Most people find that they are able to rebuild their credit by taking careful steps to re-establish credit. You have to take the same sort of steps you took to build credit in the first place to rebuild your credit after a bankruptcy. Usually, this means incurring and paying off debt according to its terms. If you keep a car or a home, your payments on it after the bankruptcy will help to rebuild your credit in and of itself.

In addition, you may wish to get a secured MasterCard or Visa card. This involves putting up a deposit and getting a credit card with the amount of the deposit as a limit. By using it carefully, always keeping the balance under some pre-determined limit like $50.00, charging something once every 2-3 months and then making the minimum payments until it is paid in full, you will help to rebuild your credit. You may end up paying an outrageous amount in interest, but you will have another creditor reporting to the national credit reporting agencies that you are making your payments on time after the bankruptcy.

Because the bankruptcy discharges so much debt, your debt to income ratio dramatically improves after a bankruptcy. But people often find that they can purchase a vehicle after the bankruptcy discharge is entered when they were unable to do so before the case was filed.

The single most important thing you can do is to establish a budget and do your very best to try to live within it. Often times, it is necessary to cut back on many things that you do routinely. For example, it is important to have a food budget for the week and a menu and to go to the grocery store for a specific set of meals. Efficient shoppers will review the ads for their favorite grocery store and plan their weekly menu based on what is on sale. Then, when you get to the store, stick to the menu and resist the temptation of impulse buys or display items on sale.

When shopping for clothes, determine what each member of your family needs as a basic wardrobe and then fill in what they don't have, rather than buying various new outfits at one time of the year, such as fall for school or spring for summer vacations. Check out Goodwill and other second-hand clothing retailers. It is possible to save money and have a good quality of life if you are careful and are willing to plan ahead.

Resist the temptation to engage in "retail therapy." Window shopping is fine if you are able to do it without making any purchases. Never buy something just because it is a good deal. Only buy things that you have decided in advance are needed.

Your first goal should be to get a savings account with a least twice your net monthly income in it and then maintain it just for emergencies. Once you have this emergency fund, you should start putting as much money as you can into retirement and college funds.

Filing bankruptcy is an unpleasant experience. No one wants to have to file bankruptcy and it is hard to make the decision to do it. For that reason, and for the future of you and your family, you should make sure that you use it as an opportunity to improve your financial well being. If you are careful, you can use your fresh start to get to a whole new financial life where you are able to pay your bills and set money aside and do not have to rely on credit for basic needs.

We encourage you to call back with questions. Often, one of our legal professionals can help with your question, or let us know what is worrying you so that when we can call, we are sure to help you with whatever is bothering you. Our goal is to make this difficult time as tolerable as possible. We can best do that by eliminating fear of the unknown.

To talk to one of the legal professionals at Behrends, Swingdoff, Haines & Critchlow, P.C. or to request a packet of information just call (541) 344-7472 or 1-800-391-7472. After hours and weekends, leave a message on one of those numbers with your name, address and phone number. Our fax number is (541) 344-6466. Our address is P.O. Box 10552, Eugene, OR 97440. You can also email us at info@oregon-attorneys.com but we encourage you to call with your questions so that you can get answers right away.