Blog: Personal Bankruptcy

The Means Test for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Eligibility

Nov 15, 2022

Mistakes to Avoid When Submitting to the Means Test If you’re looking to get a fresh start in bankruptcy and you want to wipe out whatever debts you can, you’ll need to submit to a means test, so that you can file for protection under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy laws. The purpose of the means test is to confirm that you lack the necessary resources to repay your creditors over three-to-five-years in a Chapter...

Debts You Should Pay While in Bankruptcy

Nov 10, 2022

The Limits of the Automatic Stay One of the most tangible benefits of a personal bankruptcy filing is the immediate application of the automatic stay, which allows you to suspend payment on those debts included in the petition while you either move toward discharge of debts or reorganization. There’s a common misunderstanding, though, that filing for bankruptcy protection means you don’t have to make any payments to creditors until you’ve worked out a payment plan...

Bankruptcy and Repossession

Oct 14, 2022

Can I Use a Bankruptcy Filing to Keep My Car from Being Repossessed? You’re in dire financial straits because of the loss of a job, an illness or injury, a divorce or some other unforeseen challenge. You’re behind on credit card, mortgage and car payments, and you’re scared every time you go out to your car, afraid it will have been repossessed. Can a personal bankruptcy filing stop a repossession effort? Can your lender seek...

Important Questions to Ask before Filing for Bankruptcy

Oct 6, 2022

The Things You Want to Know When Considering Bankruptcy You’re struggling pay your bills because you’ve lost your job or your hours have been cut back to nothing. You can’t see anyway things are going to improve in the near future, so you’ve given some thought to filing for personal bankruptcy protection. Here are some of the most important things you’ll want to know before you file. The Difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13...

How Does a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Petition Affect the Obligation to Pay Your Bills?

Sep 16, 2022

Can You Use the Automatic Stay to Avoid Paying Any Financial Obligations? When you file for protection under the American bankruptcy laws, an automatic stay immediately goes into effect, preventing your creditors from calling, writing or taking any legal action (outside of the bankruptcy proceeding) to collect a debt. Does that mean that you can stop paying all bills? Will the automatic stay prevent all your creditors from trying to collect a debt? Unfortunately, no—while...

Getting the Most Benefit from a Bankruptcy Filing

Sep 8, 2022

Taking the Right Steps to Get a Fresh Start When life throws you a curve…you lose your job or suffer an injury or illness…the stress and anxiety that come with struggling to meet your financial obligations can be exhausting, just making things worse. When you see little hope for a turnaround in the near future, your best option may be a personal bankruptcy filing. If you’ve made that decision, you want to take the right...

Paying the Costs of a Bankruptcy Filing

Feb 12, 2021

What Are the Out-of-Pocket Costs? How Do You Pay Them? When you lose your job or have substantial uninsured medical expenses, and bankruptcy seems like the only way to get a fresh start, the last thing you want to think about is another expense. But there are expenses involved in filing a bankruptcy petition. How much are they? What kind of arrangements can you make to pay them? The Cost of Filing for Bankruptcy To...

Chapter 7 or Chapter 13?

Feb 5, 2021

How to Determine Which Type of Bankruptcy Petition to File If you’re like many Americans, struggling with the loss of employment as a result of the pandemic, you may be considering filing for bankruptcy. If you’ve never done so before, you may be uncertain what your options are, if you can choose between different types of filings, and how you qualify. Chapter 7 Filings A petition under Chapter 7, also known as a liquidation proceeding,...

The Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy

Jan 28, 2021

What Is It? What Does It Protect You From? Can You Lose It? While a personal bankruptcy filing can allow you to permanently discharge certain debts (under Chapter 7) or restructure existing obligations to make them more affordable (under Chapter 13), one of the most attractive and powerful aspects of the law is the automatic stay that accompanies a bankruptcy filing. What Is the Automatic Stay? The automatic stay is a provision of the American...

Myths Surrounding a Personal Bankruptcy Filing

Jan 8, 2021

Dispelling Common Misperceptions If you’ve been hit hard by the pandemic—you’ve lost your job or your family business has collapsed—you may be considering personal bankruptcy in order to get a fresh start. If you’ve never considered bankruptcy before, you may have a number of inaccurate assumptions about the potential consequences of filing. Here are some of the common misunderstandings about the impact of bankruptcy. Bankruptcy Won’t Make All Your Debts Go Away Though you can...