Bankruptcy is not in anyone’s long term plans and was something my wife and I never really considered for years as we slowly drowned in debt. Despite the social stigma of bankruptcy, my wife and I started to educate ourselves about it and realized it was a great option for us. We live in Payson, AZ and talked with the first bankruptcy lawyer we could find in Payson. He made it clear that it was the option for us but we felt demeaned and uncomfortable with some of his suggestions. Still, we felt like it was our only options so we started to move forward with him.

Soon after we retained him, we started doing our research on him and found that he had a number of red flags. Our uncomfortableness was founded. We started searching for a highly rated lawyer and found Diane. Even though she wasn’t 100% sure that representing us was our best option (due to location), she confidently and patiently answered numerous questions for us. She even gave us some other options for lawyers that she highly respected. We truly felt as though she had our best interests in mind.

In the end, Diane was able to represent us and her communication, leadership and clarity throughout the process was night and day different than our first lawyer. I can’t stress to you enough how important it was for us to have made the switch. While we were hurting financially, it was %1000 times worth it to lose the money on the retainer to our previous lawyer.

Bankruptcy is something you have to take ownership of. There was a lot of work for us to do and our case’s quality depended on us taking ownership. However, Diane was a great coach in letting us know each upcoming step and what was needed. She simplified it so that we weren’t ever overwhelmed.

When our family met in court we were at peace and confident in our preparation. Furthermore, there was a high level of respect our trustee had with Diane. This made us feel good about our representation and further confirmed our confidence in her.

It has been a year since my wife and I started to consider bankruptcy and my wife and I find ourselves pondering our last year. This time last year we felt hopeless with our debt and struggling to find any solutions. Now, we have hope for the future, more discipline with our finances and eternally thankful for Diane’s guidance through the process. We out 5 months after discharge (with a credit score of 688 which we didn’t think was possible for us) and happy to be moving into a new year with this behind us.

From beginning to end, Diane was consistent, calm, encouraging, thorough and helped us feel hope again. We can’t say enough great things about Diane!

Bankruptcy was the avenue to financial freedom for our family and it might be for yours too. Our only suggestions are to:
1. Make it a lifestyle change so you can get free and stay free
2.Take ownership of your own situation and your own bankruptcy
3. Hire Diane and trust her to help you!