The following bankrupcty information is a general
overview of bankruptcy filings. For complete bankruptcy information and to contact our bankrupcty
law division please click here.
The following is some general information on Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 filings please contact our Bankruptcy Law division at
OC Bankruptcy.com call or contact us for a free consultation.
CHAPTER
7
Chapter
7 allows you, the debtor, to keep only certain properties.
However, your unsecured debts (i.e. credit cards) are all
discharged. Discharged means that you are not legally liable
for them anymore. Those who operate a business are probably
better advised to file under Chapter 13, as Chapter 7 might
result in loss of business (depending on the value).
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• |
Husband
and wife filings are called joint petitions and are recommended
if the length of marriage is long. Failure to do so might
subject the non-filing spouse to suits and collection
efforts by creditors. |
| |
• |
In
a Chapter 7 case, you attend a creditors hearing approximately
one month after filing. This is not a formal court hearing
and only in rare cases do creditors actually attend and
dispute a petition. In any case, our office will accompany
you to this hearing (unless you opt for the pro per
plan discussed below). |
| |
• |
Generally,
all debts unsecured are dischargeable. There are however,
few exceptions. Taxes are generally not dischargeable
unless a number of factors are met. Among them is the
age of the taxes owed. The other debts that are extremely
hard to discharge are student loans. However, there are
ways of discharging both these types of debts, and we
encourage you to contact our office for more information. |
CHAPTER
13
Under this Chapter, debtors are required to make certain payments
on the debts they owe. In essence, this chapter is a repayment
plan with a longer period to pay the debt. Chapter 13 is generally
used by those who, within the past 7 years, filed for Chapter
7, or whose income and assets are beyond the exemptions of Chapter
7. Chapter 13 is available to individuals who meet the following
criteria:
|
• |
Have
a regular income from any source, and |
| |
• |
Unsecured
debts not exceeding $250,000, or |
| |
• |
Secured
debts not exceeding $750,000. |
Our office will put together what is called a “Chapter
13 Plan” for you. This plan, once approved by the trustee,
will determine your payments for the next few years. We make
sure that the plan submitted for you is both and fair and reasonable.
The plan takes into consideration your income and expenses on
a monthly basis. What is left over will be sent to the trustee
so that she/he can pay creditors. An experienced attorney can
use your economic situation to pay creditors between 0 to 100
percent of debts owed to them.
Our office will also eliminate all interest on unsecured debts.
This alone can be huge savings to millions with thousands of
dollars in credit card debts.
Chapter 13 allows you to keep your house by including the delinquent
house payments in the plan and giving you over two years to
pay them. Your current payments, however, are not part of the
plan and must be paid accordingly.
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