I tend to meet a lot of potential bankruptcy clients who have lots of medical debt, the first question I ask them is what are these medical debts from. I will continue to ask questions to determine if the potential bankruptcy client has a right to sue anyone in a personal injury claim. The purpose of this questioning is that filing for bankruptcy will likely have an adverse affect on their potential personal injury claim.
Upon the filing of a bankruptcy the debtor gives up control of their lawsuit, whether it is a personal injury claim, an employment discrimination case, or any other type of lawsuit the debtor may have. The control of the lawsuit will be in the hands of the bankruptcy trustee who will decide whether to settle or take the case to trial. Once the parties reach a settlement or a party wins at trial, any money disbursed pursuant to the lawsuit will be used to pay off your debts and if there is any money outstanding that money will be returned to the debtor.
Potential bankruptcy clients in the Miami or Fort Lauderdale area, who have pending or soon to be pending personal injury claims or any other lawsuit, really need to weigh their options. If they believe that the lawsuit is of great monetary value then perhaps the filing of a bankruptcy is not in their best interest. On the other hand, if a debtor has a small claim or lawsuit, and will likely not yield a significant monetary value then perhaps the filing of the bankruptcy would be something the debtor needs to consider, and thus surrendering their interest in a small lawsuit in exchange for a discharge of all their debts would be a tradeoff they would be willing make.
If you are thinking about filing for bankruptcy and would like to speak with a bankruptcy attorney in Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Boca Raton then please contact Ofer Shmucher at Shmucher Law, PL to schedule your free initial consultation in any of our five Florida bankruptcy office locations.