Bankruptcy Articles & Links

Even if you own your home outright, you may lose it in the process. Depending on where you live, certain assets are exempt (excluded) from the bankruptcy estate, including all or part of the value of your home.

“Exempt property is any property that creditors cannot seize and sell in order to satisfy debt during chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy. The type of property exempted differs from state to state but often includes clothes, home furnishings, retirement plans, and small amounts of equity in a house and car.” according to law.cornell.edu.

What most people don’t understand is that everyone has the right to stop unsecured creditors from seizing their exempt property.  In other words, every adult has the right to protect the basic necessities of life.  Link to Arizona Exemptions.

Transferring assets that are not exempt into assets that are exempt, without more, isn’t illegal or wrong. The legislative notes of the Bankruptcy Code specifically allow this kind of activity. But this doesn’t mean that the process is risk-free. Changes to the bankruptcy laws in 2005 challenge the Constitutional right of every person to get good legal advice from their lawyer about making transfers or taking on new debt before filing for bankruptcy.

Almost anyone who owns property in the United States, or who has a permanent residence or business here, can file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. However, in order to be eligible for a discharge—the order that wipes out qualifying debt—you must first meet several criteria.

The question of who can file bankruptcy is deceptively simple – typically it is everyone.  But the real question needs to be “should a bankruptcy be filed?”  If so, “what type of bankruptcy?”  And then, “who should file the bankruptcy?”.  Followed by “when should a bankruptcy be filed?”.  But those are just a few of the questions that must be asked before anyone or any company files for bankruptcy protection.

People think that filling out a bunch of forms is all it takes to file for bankruptcy because that is how some law firms handle them. What the law firms don’t tell their clients is that almost all of them will lose their tax refunds, their families are sued for the return of money or assets that were given to them, they lose their businesses or other assets that aren’t exempt, and so much more. A really good bankruptcy lawyer takes the time to teach their clients about the challenges of filing for bankruptcy protection, and help them plan for the best possible result.

Individual Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the most common type of bankruptcy relief. The basic concept of Chapter 7 is as follows: The bankruptcy trustee assigned to your case sells your property to pay off your creditors, and the process concludes with the discharge of qualifying debt, such as credit card balances, medical debt, and personal loans.

The debtor preserves the exempt assets, while the bankruptcy trustee liquidates the non-exempt assets and distributes the money to the existing unsecured creditors ( Arizona Exemptions ). The debtor is subsequently relieved (discharged) of the need to pay most existing obligations, and creditors cannot collect the bankrupt’s future earnings. Lenders with home or car loans are either paid in full, the current value, or the objects are surrendered to the lender.

The secured creditor may apply for a court order permitting them to seize the secured collateral (house or car). Fully secured creditors have no right to share in any liquidated asset distributions made by the bankruptcy trustee.

A chapter 13 bankruptcy is also called a wage earner’s plan. It enables individuals with regular income to develop a plan to repay all or part of their debts. Under this chapter, debtors propose a repayment plan to make installments to creditors over three to five years.

The debtor is allowed to keep all of their assets and pay creditors from future earnings. Payments are sent monthly to the bankruptcy trustee, who pays the arrears on the property, vehicles, taxes, and child support; only if there is money left over, the trustee pays the existing unsecured creditors, who file proofs of claims. This is achieved through a three- to five-year court-approved plan. The balance of the unpaid obligations contained in the plan are forgiven at the conclusion of the plan (discharged).

A few debtors must file chapter 13 because they earn too much money. The means test contained in this form and required by the Bankruptcy Code will help Ms. Drain with this analysis. The good news is that a chapter 13 bankruptcy often allows the debtor to save their home, remove junior liens on their homes and pay off their vehicles.