Creditors must prove the amount they are owed by you to be entitled to receive their share of any distribution in your Bankruptcy. Creditors write off the balance of your account.

Upon filing the original petition with the Clerk's Office, the "automatic stay" immediately takes effect and prohibits all creditors from taking certain collection actions against the debtor or the debtor's property. Although the stay is automatic, creditors need to be advised of the stay.

soon as your case is officially filed with the court, creditors are legally prevented from attempting to collect on any debt owed to them by you. This means that creditors must stop all collection activity, including: telephone calls, harassing letters, repossessions, foreclosures, lawsuits, and wage garnishments. Once the case is concluded, the court may enter a "discharge". A discharge is a total release of a debtor from any further personal liability for his or her pre-bankruptcy debts.

Once the bankruptcy case is filed, creditors are barred from contacting you for collection purposes. This is referred to as the "automatic stay" which is very powerful and is designed to put an immediate stop to all collection activity.

No. You are required by law to list all of your creditors, including friends and family members who have loaned you money. Intentional failure to list a debt is a serious matter and could result in a denial of your entire bankruptcy discharge. However, you are not prohibited from voluntarily paying selected debts after you file for bankruptcy.

Yes. Debts that can be discharged in bankruptcy such as credit card and medical obligations, should not be paid once an informed decision is made to file a Chapter 7 petition. Monthly bills such as rent, mortgage payments, telephone, and utilities, however, still must be paid.

All creditors (everyone you owe money to) must be fully disclosed just as all assets (everything you own or claim an interest in) must be listed. You can usually achieve what you want to accomplish without omitting debts or property. More importantly, filing for Bankruptcy protection with intentionally incomplete or inaccurate information can result in severe penalties. Even though all debts must be listed, that does not mean that all debts result in a Bankruptcy discharge.

Creditors are required by the operation of the automatic stay provisions of Bankruptcy Code Section 362(a) to immediately cease attempting to collect on all obligations once a bankruptcy petition is filed.

Yes. 11 U.S.C. 362 requires creditors to immediately stop harassing you upon your filing of a bankruptcy petition. This same code section also generally stops garnishments, writs of attachments, sheriff sales of homes, foreclosure, lawsuits, and repossessions of vehicles. There are some instances where bankruptcy will only temporarily stop collection efforts, or will not stop them at all, if prior bankruptcies were filed too recently (see your attorney for details).

A bankruptcy case is commenced by the filing of a petition. You must also file a statement of your assets and liabilities, and schedules listing your creditors. If you choose to file a bankruptcy petition without the assistance of an attorney, you can obtain the required forms at most stationery stores or at www.uscourts.gov/bkforms/index.html. There is a range of filing fees for bankruptcy cases, depending on the chapter of the bankruptcy code under which you file.

A person, partnership, corporation, or business trust may file a bankruptcy case. Corporations, partnerships and business trusts cannot proceed if they are not represented by an attorney. Only an individual can proceed without an attorney. However, the bankruptcy process is extremely complex, and individuals are strongly encouraged to seek competent bankruptcy counsel. If a person or the entity who owes the money, called the debtor, starts the bankruptcy, it is called a voluntary bankruptcy.

If a co-signed debt is discharged in bankruptcy, the co-signer becomes responsible for the debt just as they would if the debtor didn't pay the debt for any other reason. A debtor may choose to re-affirm the debt and continue to make the payments on the co-signed debt just as they did before filing bankruptcy and the co-signer is not affected by the bankruptcy.

A chapter 7 bankruptcy is commenced by filing a petition and 30 or more pages of additional paperwork detailing your financial situation. Immediately upon filing, your creditors are prohibited from bothering you or attempting to collect on the debts. A trustee is appointed by the court to review your filing and to recommend to the court that your debts be discharged, that is, wiped out. About 4 to 5 weeks after filing, you have to appear for a trustee meeting which is mostly a formality.