Bifurcated BKs
Bifurcated bankruptcy is an option for clients who may not be able to afford bankruptcy fees upfront. Read this post to find out more about this type of bankruptcy and how you can offer it to clients.
  • legal tech
  • bifurcated bankruptcy
  • bankruptcy
Meredith Boe
Published on Sep 10, 2020

 

Bankruptcy clients are likely already dealing with a lot of stress and financial uncertainty. One way you can assist them through this challenging time is by offering bifurcated bankruptcies, which means that they put zero down on legal services.

 

If you’re looking to add variety to your fee structure and offerings for bankruptcy clients, here’s what you need to know about bifurcated bankruptcies.

 

 

How do bifurcated bankruptcies work?

As already stated, bifurcation allows for zero-down bankruptcies. This means that clients don’t have to pay the retainer fee, normally pre-petition when filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy with the court. They only have to pay the fee after submitting the petition. They make up this payment via an agreed-upon monthly fee agreement with you.

 

There are a few necessary forms for bifurcated bankruptcy cases. These are:

 

  • Official Form B 3A: Application for Individuals to Pay the Filing Fee in Installments

This form is submitted so that the debtor can pay their filing fees in installments rather than pre-petition.

 

  • Official Form B 3B: Application to Have the Chapter 7 Filing Fee Waived

This application helps clients avoid paying the filing fee for Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases.

 

  • Form B2030: Disclosure of Compensation of Attorney for Debtor

In this form, you disclose any payments collected from the debtor.

 

 

Offering bifurcated bankruptcies helps you reach more clients in need and stay competitive in your area. And this option gives clients more flexibility in finding their financial fresh start, and they’re able to afford an attorney when they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

 

NextChapter resources for bifurcated bankruptcies

NextChapter is committed to helping attorneys like you provide these alternative fee structures for clients. We’ve partnered with Fresh Start Funding to give you the help you need with bifurcated Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, in addition to assistance with payment management and due diligence. Fresh Start knows the ins and outs of court guidelines for bifurcated cases and can help educate you about the process.

 

Our tools and solutions like NextMessage make it easy for you to follow through on bifurcated bankruptcies with simple text message reminders for when clients’ payments are due. In addition, we automatically generate the necessary forms mentioned above in our software so that the process is easier for everyone.

 

Learn more about how NextChapter can help you support your clients with bifurcated Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases by contacting our team.