Unlike red wine, the information you provide a bankruptcy lawyer does not improve with age. Bankruptcy information is far more like fish: no longer palatable after it sits for a while.

A bankruptcy filing is a snapshot of the client’s situation on the day the case is filed. From the point when the case is filed, bankruptcy law looks backward and forward. The rights of all of the parties are driven by the passage of time.
For instance the statement of financial affairs looks back at recent financial history:
• Income year to date
• Income for the past two years
• Payments on old debts in 12 months
• Transfers or gifts in past 24 months

The means test analyzes income for the six months before the month in which the case is filed. A drop in income may make your bankruptcy filing simpler; a substantial increase may require reconsidering your choice of chapter.

Lives are fluid and when months go by between starting work on preparing bankruptcy documents, the changes can have significant consequences. Bank accounts are opened or closed; lawsuits are served; asset values change. Each of those changes can alter your rights and those of your creditors and your family.

When asset values change, what’s exempt may change. Acquire property, or just add your name to the title of someone else’s property, and the property may be vulnerable to your creditors in bankruptcy. Fail to pick up new creditors and the debt may not be discharged.

So, time may do lovely things to red wine; bankruptcy information is simply subject to spoilage.

If events or lack of funds put your bankruptcy filing on hold for a while, be prepared to revisit the information you may already have provided. While it may be tedious and time consuming to gather more information or submit to another interview with your lawyer, it is absolutely in your best interest to have the information fresh and complete.