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Will I lose my house if I declare bankruptcy”, this is perhaps the most common question people have when they first begin to consider declaring bankruptcy. The answer to this question is going to depend on the kind of bankruptcy you file for, in combination with other sorts of factors that may have an effect on your ability to keep your home. When you want to declare personal bankruptcy, you will either be looking to file for chapter 7, or chapter 13. A chapter 7 filing can allow for an immediate discharge of the majority of your unsecured debts, but will only happen after you have listed all of your property and assets for the court to go over and evaluate. The end goal of this is to determine if any of your assets can be sold off to pay back your creditors, and while most people that file for chapter 7 don’t have any significant assets to begin with, it is still a smart move to know where you stand with the items that you are still making 
payments on, such as a car, or a house. Certain kinds of property are considered to be exempt from sale, and this is normally established on a state level in a more explicit fashion. Your home is considered to be an exempt form of property by most states, and the equity that is present in your home should be exempt up to a certain amount. This is more commonly referred to as the homestead exemption, and the exact amount that will be able to be exempt is regulated on a state level, and can be as high as the entire amount of equity that is present within your home. Some states have no homestead exemption, and it is therefore in your best interest to look up what you state specifies in regard to this metric. Bankruptcy Lawyers That being said, you can plan on having a certain portion, if not all of the equity in your home exempt from sale during a chapter 7 filing, and it is very rare for there ever to be an outright sale of a home as a result of a chapter 7 filing. This does not mean that a chapter 7 filing will prevent the foreclosure process, as your mortgage loan is a secured form of debt that is not treated in the same way as the unsecured debts that may be eligible for a discharge by way of a chapter 7 filing. This means that you can still lose your house as a result of a foreclosure process if you filed for chapter 7, but the likelihood of losing it as a result of the actual bankruptcy proceedings is minimal, and most people who file chapter 7 get to keep their homes without much effect from the actual bankruptcy. Chapter 13 works a bit differently because with a chapter 13 filing a repayment plan is established instead of an immediate discharge, and therefore your creditors will receive some money as a result of this plan. This means that you don’t have to worry about your assets being sold off with a chapter 13 filing, and the equity in your home should be safe as a direct consequence of this. A chapter 13 filing can also stop the foreclosure process due to the fact that the terms of your mortgage will most likely be reorganized during the writing of your repayment plan. You will then have to make payments according to the terms of your repayment plan to keep your house, as these will most often be different than the original terms you may have had with your original note. Remember that you should be able to keep your home whether you file for chapter 7, or chapter 13, as long as you can handle the foreclosure process that may take place when you file for chapter 7, and you abide by the terms of your repayment plan if you filed for chapter 13.Bankruptcy Help
How Much Does It Cost to Declare Bankruptcy?
Posted: by BankRupt in how to declare bankruptcyTags: bankruptcy attorney, bankruptcy costs, bankruptcy financing, declare bankruptcy, declaring bankruptcy, how and when to declare bankruptcy, how much does it cost to declare bankruptcy?, how to declare bankruptcy, how to declare personal bankruptcy, should I declare bankruptcy?
“How much does it cost to declare bankruptcy?”
This is a relevant question that most people have at one point or another when they begin to consider declaring bankruptcy. How much it costs you to declare bankruptcy depends on the kind of bankruptcy you plan on filing for, and if you are planning on filing for bankruptcy then you are going to most often be limited to filing for either chapter seven, or chapter thirteen.
A declaration of bankruptcy typically begins when you file a petition with the bankruptcy court that presides over the area where you live. During this initial filing you are going to have to fill out a number of different forms with the court to begin your case, and your bankruptcy will not be put into motion until you go ahead with such action. This initial filing with the court is also going to cost you some money, by way of certain fees that are required with either a chapter seven, or a chapter thirteen filing.
If you file for chapter seven, you can expect to pay about two hundred dollars in total, with one hundred and seventy dollars going towards the appropria
te filing fees, and thirty dollars going towards the appropriate noticing fee. If you file for chapter thirteen, then you can expect this sum to be a bit less, with only one hundred and fifty-five dollars going towards the actual filing fees. This means that you can save about fifteen dollars with a chapter thirteen filing, and you will therefore only have to pay one hundred and eighty-five dollars in total initially, instead of two hundred.
These are typically the only up-front fees that you’ll have to pay whenever you declare bankruptcy, although there are of course other costs involved that may not be as apparent. The most common and significant one is the money you must pay a Bankruptcy Lawyer, as these costs can be upwards of one, to two thousand dollars. Most bankruptcy lawyers will charge you about two grand for the comprehensive handling of your case, although this will depend on the actual lawyer, and the specifics of your case. It is recommended that you always hire a qualified bankruptcy attorney to assist you throughout your bankruptcy proceedings, and it is therefore imperative that you set aside enough capital to cover the costs of hiring one before you go ahead and actually declare bankruptcy.
How Long Does It Take to Declare Bankruptcy?
Posted: by BankRupt in chapter 13 bankruptcy, chapter 7 bankruptcy, how to declare bankruptcyTags: chapter 13, chapter 7, declare bankruptcy, declaring bankruptcy, how and when to declare bankruptcy, how long does it take to declare bankruptcy?, how to declare bankruptcy, how to declare personal bankruptcy, preparing to declare bankruptcy, repayment plans
Learning how to declare Bankruptcy If you are declaring personal bankruptcy, then you are going to be limited to either choosing a chapter 7, or a chapter 13 filing. Chapter 7 bankruptcy can provide you with a full discharge from your current debts without the need for any sort of back, or future repayments. Chapter 13 bankruptcy can also provide a discharge of your debts, but only after you have settled on a repayment plan that will describe how you are supposed to continue to make payments on your debts. It is beyond the scope of this article to go into detail about what kind of bankruptcy you should file for, and it is just important to know that the kind of bankruptcy you file for is going to have a significant effect on how long your bankruptcy case will play out.
A chapter 7 filing doesn’t require that you abide by any sort of repayment plan, and is therefore considered to be final once the court has made a ruling on your case. This most often will take anywhere from four to six months after your initial bankruptcy filing with the court, although it can take longer if your creditors raise objections about your filing of chapter 7, or if there are any other issues that involve your case such as complications with evaluating your asset values, o
r difficulty in determining your sources of income. With a chapter 7 filing the process should therefore take anywhere from four to six months in total, although as was previously stated if there are issues with your case for whatever reason it may take longer.
A chapter 13 bankruptcy case can last much longer than a chapter 7 bankruptcy case because with a chapter 13 filing you are going to have to make repayments on your current debts from anywhere between three and five years. It is essential that you fully satisfy the requirements of your repayment plan, because only after you have satisfied such requirements will you be able to get a final discharge on your included debts from the court. The initial steps that are involved with a chapter 13 filing are similar to that of chapter 7 filing, and the primary difference has to do with when the actu
al final decision for a discharge is handed down by the court. With a chapter 7 filing this takes anywhere from four to six months for the majority of cases, and with a chapter 13 filing this same time table can be used, but instead of a final decision for a discharge at the end of the four to six month period, a repayment plan is typically put into effect that will have its own schedule in regard to time.
Just remember that you can plan on the general process to take about six months, and if you file for chapter 13 then you can plan on having to abide by a repayment plan that can last anywhere from three to five years.
What Happens If I Declare Bankruptcy?
Posted: by BankRupt in chapter 13 bankruptcy, chapter 7 bankruptcy, debt relief, how to declare bankruptcyTags: bankruptcy attorney, declare bankruptcy, declaring bankruptcy, discharge, how and when to declare bankruptcy, how to declare bankruptcy, how to declare personal bankruptcy, preparing to declare bankruptcy, should I declare bankruptcy?, what happens if I declare bankruptcy?
Declaring bankruptcy is a difficult decision that should only happen after you have gained a firm grip on whether or not your situation would benefit from a bankruptcy filing, and you have considered all of your other alternatives to bankruptcy. Learning how to declare bankruptcy is essential if you want to eventually get the outcomes that you originally hoped for, and you will only learn how to file for Bankruptcy if you can first take into consideration what should happen as a result of your bankruptcy filing. The question, “what happens if I declare bankruptcy”, is a common one, and if you have been asking yourself this recently then you must be aware of a few major points that will help give you an idea of what could happen if you file for bankruptcy.
Because you are probably looking to file for personal bankruptcy, you are going to be limited to filing for either chapter 7, or chapter 13 bankruptcy. What chapter of bankruptcy you file for is going to have a signific
ant effect on what happens after you declare bankruptcy, and only after you have a firm understanding of what chapter you are going to file for can you have a clear idea of what is going to happen once you actually declare bankruptcy. This most often has to do with your level of income, and your ability and willingness to pay back any amount of your currents debts. Chapter 7 typically provides a complete discharge of your debts, while chapter 13 requires that you pay back some of your debts via a three, to five-year repayment plan. It is beyond the scope of this article to go into detail about what kind of bankruptcy you should file for, and you should perform further research with the help of a qualified bankruptcy attorney to determine which type of bankruptcy you should ultimately file for.
That being said, you can still get a general idea of what is going to happen once you file for bankruptcy whether you file for chapter 7, or chapter 13. The major end goal of a personal bankruptcy is to provide you with relief from your current level of debt, by way of either a discharge, which is essentially a complete elimination of your liability for the repayment of such debt, or via a restructuring of the current repayment terms that you may have for a particular debt. When you declare bankruptcy you essentially begin this process, and almost immediately after you file for bankruptcy your creditors will have to stop following through on any sort of collection processes. Relief from collection processes should happen fairly quickly once you have officially declared bankruptcy, but any kind of discharge, or reorganization of payment plans will only happen after your case has gone through the appropriate court processes that will make your bankruptcy complete, and official
This means that once you have actually filed for bankruptcy with the court that presides over where you live you must then expect that it will take anywhere from four, to six months for your case to be put through the courts, and for you to eventually receive an actual concluding decision. Once your case comes to a close after this time period you should then have an understanding of what debts are going to be given a complete discharge, and which ones you may still be liable for. If you filed for chapter 13 then you are going to have to abide by a repayment plan that is set during your meetings and hearings with the court, and your debts will most likely not be discharged until you have fully satisfied the requirements that were included in your particular repayment plan.
With a chapter 7 filing you can expect to have your assets, and other property to be sold off, or 
given to creditors, with only your exempt property to be given a pass. What property is considered to be exempt is determined most of the time at the state level, and it is vital that you consult with your particular state’s regulations in regard to property exemptions before you take stock in your ability to keep such property. If you filed for chapter 13, then you should be able to keep most of your assets, and other property as long as you adhere to the repayment plan that you agreed to. The final decision of the court will determine your ultimate fate, and with a chapter 7 filing it will result in an either a discharge, or a continuance of liability for your debts. With a chapter 13 filing you are only going to receive a discharge after you have completed the repayment plan that was decided upon by you, your creditors, and the court. You can get a better idea of what happens after you declare bankruptcy by consulting with a qualified bankruptcy attorney, as only then will you know exactly how your bankruptcy case should play out.
Learn How to Declare Bankruptcy
Posted: by BankRupt in chapter 13 bankruptcy, chapter 7 bankruptcy, debt relief, filing bankruptcy, how to declare bankruptcyTags: chapter 13, chapter 7, declare bankruptcy, declaring bankruptcy, discharge, how and when to declare bankruptcy, how to declare bankruptcy, how to declare personal bankruptcy, preparing to declare bankruptcy, should I declare bankruptcy?
Filing bankruptcy can provide the relief you need from your current debts, and knowing how to declare bankruptcy is essential if you want to experience a process that is efficient, and one that can accomplish your end goals. Declare Bankruptcy may seem like a difficult task, but if you know exactly how and when to declare bankruptcy you can often avoid many of the common pitfalls that individuals typically encounter during the bankruptcy filing process. Preparing to declare bankruptcy begins by first getting a grip on the kind of bankruptcy you may be eligible for, as there are a number of different types of bankruptcy.
Which Chapter of the Bankruptcy Code Should I File For?
There are six major chapters of bankruptcy—chapter 7, chapter 13, chapter 11, chapter 12, chapter 9, and chapter 15. If you were wondering how to declare personal bankruptcy, then you are going to most likely be interested in filing for either chapter 7, or chapter 13, as these are the chapters that are designed for individuals and not businesses, or other sorts of organizations.
Chapter 12
is also designed for individual citizens, although it is focused on providing debt relief to family farmers and fisherman, and unless you fall into either of these two categories you are probably going to want to look passed filling for this chapter. Chapter 11 is designed specifically for a partnership or corporation, and chapter 9 is designed for the reorganization of municipalities—you will therefore not want to consider filing for either of these chapters. Chapter 15 has to do with the resolution of debts that may exist in regard to the involvement of entities that may lie outside of the United States, and you therefore in all likelihood will want to overlook filing for this chapter.
Should I Declare Bankruptcy—When to File Bankruptcy
Knowing when to file bankruptcy is crucial if you are unsure about whether your situation will benefit from the end goals of a bankruptcy, and it is essential that you spend enough time to carefully examine all of your debt relief options before you go ahead and haphazardly go through with a particular filing. Bankruptcy is in fact a debt relief mechanism, and the primary reason you should ever consider declaring bankruptcy has to do with your situation in regard to your personal debts. When your personal level of debt gets to a point where it becomes unmanageable, and you think that you may not ever be able to pay it all back, it may be time to start thinking about declaring bankruptcy.
A bankruptcy filing can provide you relief from your current creditors, and can essentially allow you to not have to pay either some, or all of your current personal debts back. This will depend
on your current financial situation, and the type of bankruptcy you qualify for. A bankruptcy is not without a serious downside though, and you must be aware that a bankruptcy filing is going to be on your credit report from anywhere between seven and ten years, and can severely limit your ability to get the vast majority of loans and credit products that are on the market. The ones that you are able to get will most likely only be provided to you at an extraordinarily high interest rate, and this can have a significant impact on the price you’ll have to pay for a house, a car, or even your cell phone.
There is no hard and fast rule that can determine when you should declare bankruptcy, as a number of factors should play into your decision. You should first make sure that you have exhausted all of your debt relief options besides bankruptcy. Things like debt settlement, consolidation, refinancing, and budget reformatting should all be explored before you think about declaring bankruptcy. If you have looked into these kinds of debt relief options and still have determined that your level of debt has become out of control, and almost impossible to pay back, it may then be time to seriously consider declaring bankruptcy. Just remember that a bankruptcy should only be considered as a last resort, and should never be looked upon as an easy method to relieve your personal debt obligations.
Chapter 7 vs. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Now that you have determined declaring bankruptcy may be a good option for your situation, you must take into consideration how you should go about doing it exactly.Declaring personal Bankruptcy is not always a simple process, although it can be relatively unproblematic as long as you know what you’re doing. As was stated earlier, the kinds of bankruptcy that you are going to most likely be eligible for are either a chapter 7, or chapter 13 filing. These are the types of bankruptcy that can give you full, or partial relief from your current personal debts, and which one you qualify for will almost always depend on your current level of income.
Determining whether you should file for chapter 7, or chapter 13 is going to most often come down your level of income, and your willingness to pay back some, or all of your debt. The primary difference between a chapter 7, and a chapter 13 filing has to do with the fact that with a chapter 7 filing you can typically get the majority, if not all of your debt discharged, and will therefore never have to pay any of it back. With a chapter 13 filing you are going to have to pay some of your current debt back on a payment plan, which will be established by the bankruptcy court in accordance with input from both yourself, and your creditors.
Most people would prefer to file for chapter 7 since it can provide a full expungement of personal debt without the need to have to make any sort of back payments to creditors. The problem is that you must qualify for a chapter 7 filing, and the primary factor that is going to be considered is your level of income. If you make more than a certain amount of money then you may not be eligible for a chapter 7 filing, and you will instead have to go with a chapter 13 filing. This is determined via what is called the chapter 7 means test, as this is the actual formula that is used to evaluate whether or not you make enough money to pay back some of your debts.
While it is beyond the scope of this article to go into detail about how the chapter 7 means test specifically makes this computation, you can get a fairly good idea of your ability to pass by knowing what the income of your household is in relation to the median income of a household that is your size in your state. If you make less than your state’s median income, you automatically pass, if you make more, the chapter 7 means test formula takes over and your ability to pass will reside on a fairly complex computation that includes factors such as your income, and current expenses. Just know that your chances of passing are going to decrease as your income increases in relation to your state’s median household income. The only real caveat is if you have a high amount of monthly expenses, such as a high mortgage payment. There are a multitude of online resources that can provide you with an actual chapter 7 means test calculator, but in reality it is probably best to consult with a qualified bankruptcy attorney to definitively determine whether or not you should file for chapter 7, or chapter 13.
Consulting with a bankruptcy lawyer normally doesn’t cost that much if you are only going in for an initial evaluation of your situation, and by going this route you can get a much better idea of your options going forward. Some people decide to completely skip this step, and that is fine if you are confident in your understanding of the bankruptcy laws, and the appropriate methods and procedures, but in all likelihood you aren’t an expert on the ins and outs of filing bankruptcy, and you should therefore always consult an attorney before moving ahead with any sort of action steps.
Once you have consulted with a bankruptcy lawyer and have determined the kind of bankruptcy you need to file for, it is then time to actually go ahead and proceed with the bankruptcy filing. This begins with the filing of the appropriate petition and forms at the bankruptcy court that serves the area where your primary residence is located in. The kind of information you’ll typically have to provide will include the details of your income, debts, expenses, property, and other sorts of personal data. Once you have successfully filled out all of the appropriate forms with all of the relevant and sequestered information, your bankruptcy case will then become official, and set into motion.
How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
The process going forward will then depend on whether you filed for c
hapter 7, or chapter 13. If you filed for chapter 7, then you are most likely only going to have to go to one meeting to meet with your case trustee. This meeting is to discuss the information that you submitted during your initial bankruptcy filing, and to allow for the asking of questions and the venting of concerns. It will then be up to you to handle any disputes that you may have with a creditor that has filed a claim against you, or if you want to eliminate any particular liens before your bankruptcy case is closed.
You’ll also have to follow-through on the way you stated how you are going to handle any secured debts that you may have, as you stated this within one of the forms that you provided during your initial filing. That should essentially be all that is required on your end, and eventually the court should issue you an order that will state that your dischargeable debts have been officially discharged. Once this happens you will no longer have the legal obligation to make any back, or future payments on such debts, and your creditors will no longer have the legal rights to demand such payments.
How to File for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
There are a few differences when compared to a chapter 7 filing that you’ll have to take note of if you’re filing for chapter 13. When you first file the appropriate forms with the court that presides over the area that you live in you are also going to have to draft, and submit a payment plan that reveals exactly how you plan to pay back some, or all of your debt. You will then have to attend a meeting that will involve you, your case trustee, and perhaps your creditors. During this meeting your case trustee will go over your paperwork, and your creditors will be allowed to go over your repayment plan and perhaps negotiate with you.
You will then have to attend a confirmation hearing where the judge will rule on whether or not to confirm your plan, and during this hearing any creditors may attend to raise objections, as the judge will rule on these as well. You will then have to begin making payments according to the payment plan that the judge confirmed within thirty days of the hearing. You may have to return to court if there were any details that were not ironed out, or if there was some kind of issue with your case. That is pretty-much it, as you will then have to keep on following your repayment plan according to the appropriate settled upon terms, and upon its completion the court should issue you a discharge order that should eliminate the remainder of your dischargeable debt.
Declaring Personal Bankruptcy Conclusion
You should now be free of your unsecured debt, and by knowing how to declare bankruptcy you have most likely given yourself a fresh financial start that will allow you the necessary freedom to live your life how you want to. Remember that you should always do as much research as you can on your own in combination with the assistance from a qualified bankruptcy attorney if you want to achieve the appropriate end goals that will allow you to get the most out of your bankruptcy filing. Declaring bankruptcy isn’t extraordinarily complex and difficult, but it isn’t the simplest of tasks either, and by taking the time out to learn how to go about it properly you have hopefully ensured that you have maximized your debt relief potential, and in the end this will hopefully give rise to the outcomes that will benefit you the most.