Bankruptcy Questions Answered

Peter Gitundu asked:


There is a choice on what to keep when one has filed for bankruptcy in the United States. This is commonly referred to as the exemption scheme in which an individual chooses the items or assets they choose to keep. These range from clothes to homesteads. This is only applicable under the liquidation chapter and the debtor can choose the exemption scheme only when they have submitted a list of all the available assets together with an approximate value. Once this is done, through guidance, the debtor can choose what to keep or not.
Bankruptcy does not provide for the clearing of secured debts such as mortgages, alimony, child care or outstanding tax on a property. Under this law, reaffirmation is allowed. The debtor must reaffirm the asset in question only after he, under oath is questioned about his financial affairs in the presence of creditors and other involved parties.

Insolvency allows an individual, partnership or cooperation to file a petition under chapter 13. This is through making a payment plan towards the creditors within three to five years. Many of the people who file a petition under this law usually have those debts that chapter seven cannot wipe away. These could be mortgages on homes they would love to keep due to sentimental reason. They could also be child support and alimony or large amounts paid towards student loans.

In the case of bankruptcy, the debtor will require a stable amount of money after monthly expenses such as food, transport and other expenses have been deducted. Once the petition is filed together with a repayment plan, a trustee goes through it for flexibility and sends it to creditors to have it approved. If approved one can keep the assets.



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Smith Bryan asked:


If you are in the process of having to file bankruptcy, and you are unsure of what you should do with your bankruptcy forms, then you should think about going to a bankruptcy attorney for advice. You will be able to get the forms needed, as well as help in filling them out. This way, you can be sure that you are filling out all the forms that you need to. The downside to this is you will need about $3000 to complete the entire process. One alternative to this is to hire an online bankruptcy service that will do basically the same thing as an attorney without the high costs or if with these services you will be able to get any information that you need regarding which of your belongings are exempt from the proceedings. If you are not sure which type of bankruptcy to file, you will also need to give advice as to whether Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 is best for you.
When you decide that filing bankruptcy is your only way out, you will have to collect all the forms specifically for your state. The bankruptcy forms you will need to fill out to complete your bankruptcy filing are as follows, voluntary petition bankruptcy, real property and personal property statements, list of exemptions, secured debts, priority debts and unsecured non-priority debts. You will be asked to provide contracts or lease verification and co-debtor information. Additionally, you will have to fill out detailed income and expense sheets and bankruptcy forms that list creditors. You will also be required to complete a statement of intention if you choose Chapter 7 protection.

A bankruptcy case is started by the filing of a petition. You must also file a statement of your assets and liabilities, and you must list all your creditors. If you choose to file a bankruptcy petition without the help of an attorney, you can obtain the required bankruptcy forms online. There is a range of filing fees for bankruptcy cases, depending on the chapter of the bankruptcy code under which you file. For information on the different chapters of the bankruptcy code, go to the US courts government website and go to the bankruptcy basics page which will have a large amount of information and descriptions of the codes.

If you’re trying to file bankruptcy on your own, one thing that you need to do is to make sure your forms are for your state. It is a fact that the laws are a little different in every state, so if you’re not careful you get into with the wrong form for your state. You should also check to make sure that you are actually getting legitimate and official bankruptcy forms, that way you will know that your filing was done correctly. Depending on where you look for your bankruptcy forms, you may be able to find some instructions that will help you figure out what information you need to get before you can fill out the bankruptcy forms. Make sure that you follow the instructions well, otherwise you might end up unable to file for bankruptcy, or you might not list the right assets or get the right things exempted from the bankruptcy proceedings.



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Peter Gitundu asked:


Once a debtor has decided that he wants to file a bankruptcy petition, he will be required to present the court with various statements that will enable them to determine under which chapter the debtor should file. The debtor is also expected to present a list of all the creditors and a list of the assets that are under his name.
This way, the court will be able to weigh the options available and determine whether they are applicable in the case of that particular debtor. Once the debtor has filed a personal insolvency it is important that they understand what the court will do with the debts accumulated. They might wonder what will happen to the students loan, the tax or any other debt in their name.

In the past, before 1998 all student loans in the United States of America were discharged under the liquidation chapter. This would be done in case the first payment was expected to be paid seven years or more before the petition was filed. The new law allows student loans to be discharged under chapter 13. Personal bankruptcy filed under the wage earner chapter allows for the students loan to be consolidated along other outstanding balances.

It is also possible that the attorney handling the case to arrange for a free interest repayment plan. This way the debtor will be freed from harassment from student loan agencies. Tax relief can only be gotten if an individual files a personal bankruptcy petition more than three years after filing a timely truthful tax return. In case the court does not receive this in time, then you are advised to wait for two years to get the tax relief.



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David Ebert asked:


Declaring bankruptcy is a difficult decision for any person or a company and without the help of an experienced bankruptcy attorney the whole process can get very complex. In the recent years the bankruptcy laws have changed a lot and this has further led to an increase in the demand for experienced bankruptcy attorneys for consumers and businesses. Most Chapter 13 Personal Bankruptcy cases are filed because a person is no longer able to pay back the creditors with his or her present income and in future too there is no way of being able to pay back.

According to the new bankruptcy laws, those who want to file bankruptcy have to go for pre-bankruptcy credit counseling requirements. As the new laws aim to deter people from filing a bankruptcy, it is advisable that a person should take bankruptcy advice from attorney legal services of an attorney who has experience in dealing with bankruptcy cases. An experienced attorney can judge the bankruptcy case in the light of the new laws and thus help a person in properly filing bankruptcy without any loopholes in filing the case or documentation. An attorney can also advise whether the bankruptcy case should be filed under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, as both chapters of bankruptcy law have their own merits and demerits.

The laws regarding bankruptcy involve both the creditors and the debtors and it is the right of both the parties to be justifiably catered. By filing the application for bankruptcy, a debtor needs to inform all his creditors how he plans to repay their money. It is important to know that once bankruptcy is filed, the records will stay in the credit report for ten years and in this time a person can work his way towards paying back the credit. There are several firms that can help a person in coming up with a detailed plan to file bankruptcy petition properly and also pay debts in time.

Filing bankruptcy can save a person from the constant pressure from the bill collectors as the court can make arrangements for a person to pay all his debts. This means that a person can make a fresh start when all his debts are paid and bring life back to normal.

If you are considering filing Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy or filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy, then Ebert Law Offices, P.C can help you with all the legal formalities. Fort Worth bankruptcy attorneys in this affordable legal services firm has over 10 years of experience in dealing with bankruptcy cases, and they also offer bankruptcy, debt and credit counseling service for free. To find out more about Fort Worth bankruptcy attorneys, please visit http://www.ftworthbankruptcy.com or call (817) 268-2468 to schedule a meeting.



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In bankruptcy Chapter 13 mortgage foreclosure is either stopped or at least temporarily avoided. Here’s how.

First, just in case you are not familiar with a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, it is a bankruptcy court approved payment plan where the debtor (the person filing bankruptcy) pays a bankruptcy trustee each month and then the trustee pays the debtor’s creditors.

There are several aspects of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy that work to help people facing mortgage foreclosure. The first aspect is actually applicable to all bankruptcies. It is called the “automatic stay”.

By law, whenever anyone files bankruptcy, regardless of the type of bankruptcy, there is an immediate “automatic stay” (automatic temporary stopping) of most civil proceedings against the person filing bankruptcy. What this means is that if someone is facing mortgage foreclosure and the person files bankruptcy, the mortgage lender has to immediately stop its’ foreclosure action until it gets permission for the bankruptcy court to proceed.

In a Chapter 13, the bankruptcy court will not lift the “automatic stay” and grant the mortgage lender permission to proceed with a foreclosure until the debtor (the person filing bankruptcy) fails to make his payments to the bankruptcy trustee. As long as the debtor pays the monthly payments to the trustee and pays his regular mortgage payments, the “automatic stay” will remain in force and the mortgage lender can not do anything.

The second aspect of a Chapter 13 that works in favor of people facing foreclosure is that it allows a debtor to pay mortgage arrearage over time, normally 3 to 5 years. In most foreclosure cases, a person has not paid his monthly mortgage payment for several months and the mortgage lender demands full payment of the delinquent monthly payments (arrearage) in lump sum before the lender will consider stopping foreclosure. Most people cannot pay the lump sum.

In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, a debtor can pay the arrearage over time. He does not have to pay it all at one time. Spreading the lump sum over time means paying smaller monthly payments until the total arrearage is paid. A creditor can object to the amount to be paid each month towards the arrearage, but once the bankruptcy court approves the payment plan, the creditor can not do anything except take the payments.

A third aspect of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy that helps people facing mortgage foreclosure is that unsecured creditors may be paid a portion or all of what is owed to them. What this is really doing is reducing the amount of debt that a person has to pay back each month. By paying unsecured creditors less each month, there is more money available with which to pay a secured creditor such as a mortgage lender. Therefore, it should be easier for a debtor to pay his monthly mortgage payment.

This is general information. If you need specific information or have any questions of any nature whatsoever, talk with a lawyer licensed in your state.

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