“I had been carrying the envelopes around in my car for a year. Abner opened every one at our first meeting and wrote the totals on a legal pad. That night I slept.”
Denise R.Chapter 7 client
Bankruptcy law in Tulsa
“A new opportunity in life and a clear field for future effort.”
The Supreme Court wrote that in 1934, describing what bankruptcy is for. It had in mind the honest person whose debts outgrew the paycheck.
The people I meet now are nurses, roofers, retirees and shop owners. A hospital stay, a layoff or a divorce did the arithmetic, and most waited a year longer than they needed to because they were ashamed.
My job is to show you the numbers plainly, tell you which chapter fits or whether none does, and then file it carefully enough that it holds.
Abner Vandiver
Bankruptcy lawyer, Tulsa
Abner Vandiver
Bankruptcy lawyer
I started out collecting debts for a lender. Now I work only for the people who owe them.
Those first years taught me how a collection file is put together, which deadlines are real and which letters are only meant to frighten. Very few of the people on the other end understood what was in theirs.
So I changed sides. My practice is people in debt and nothing else: Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and the cases where a settlement letter does more good than a petition.
You meet me at the first conversation. I review your paperwork, sit beside you at the meeting of creditors and answer your calls afterward. There is no intake team and no associate you have to get to know.
I will also tell you when bankruptcy is the wrong tool. Some people leave our first talk with a plan that never involves filing at all.
Where I’m admitted, and where your case is filed
- Admitted
- Oklahoma Bar Association2012
- Courts
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Oklahoma2012U.S. District Court, Northern District of Oklahoma2013
- Education
- J.D., University of Tulsa College of Law2012B.S., Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University2008
- Memberships
- National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy AttorneysTulsa County Bar Association
- Languages
- English
Worked examples
Three households, with the arithmetic shown
These are composites of common situations, not real clients, and the figures are rounded. Every case is different, and yours turns on your income, your property and the rules where you file.
- Chapter 7
A home health aide, $46,000 behind on cards and a hospital bill
She takes home $2,900 a month and supports one child. That income falls under the means test for a household of two, so Chapter 7 is open to her, and exemptions cover her 2015 car and household goods.
How Chapter 7 worksAbout four months from filing to discharge
The cards and the hospital bill are discharged
She keeps the car and keeps paying its loan
- Chapter 13
A couple four payments behind on their house, with a sale date set
A layoff cost them five months of pay. They are working again but owe $9,600 in missed mortgage payments. Filing Chapter 13 stops the sale the day the petition goes in.
How Chapter 13 works$9,600 spread over 60 months, about $160 a month
Regular mortgage payments start again at once
The house stays theirs as long as the plan is paid
- Without filing
A retired machinist with one $14,000 card account
His income is Social Security, which card companies generally cannot garnish, and he rents his home. Suing him would gain the bank little, so a letter laid that out.
Settling without filingSettled for $4,200, paid over twelve months
The agreement was in writing before he paid anything
No bankruptcy on his credit report
What clients told me afterward
“He told me Chapter 13 would be five years of work, and it was. He also answered every email I sent in those five years.”
Marcus T.Chapter 13 client
“I walked in expecting to file. He talked me out of it, wrote to the card company instead, and charged me for one letter.”
Gene W.Settled without filing
Each client’s case is different. These words describe their experience, not a result you should expect in yours.
Tell me what’s pressing
I read every message myself and write back with a time to talk. The first conversation is free and takes about half an hour.
Phone(918) 555-0162
HoursMon–Thu 8:30am–5:30pm
Fri 8:30am–noon
Thursday evenings by appointment