You commence a chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding by filing a "petition" with the bankruptcy court. The person filing a Chapter 7 is referred to as the "debtor." The debtor is required to disclose to the court all his or her property and debts and turn over all nonexempt property to the bankruptcy trustee, who then converts it to cash for distribution to the creditors. The debtor then receives a discharge of all dischargeable debts. See similar questions...

Bankruptcy is a procedure brought in federal court. About 6 months after your case is filed, the bankruptcy court in the area where you reside will issue an Order declaring all your unsecured debts discharged. That means your unsecured creditors which you had before you filed bankruptcy will then forever be barred from contacting you ever again to collect on a debt. See similar questions...

You must reside or have a domicile, a place of business, or property in the United States or a municipality. You must not have been granted a Chapter 7 discharge or completed a Chapter 13 plan within the last 6 years . You must not have had a bankruptcy filing dismissed for cause within the last 180 days. It must not be a "substantial abuse" of bankruptcy to grant the debtor relief. Last, it would not be fundamentally unfair to grant the debtor relief under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. See similar questions...

You are only allowed to keep your exempt assets when you file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Florida has opted out of the Federal exemptions. Therefore, we must look to Florida law to determine which assets are exempt. Most of the exemptions can be found in Florida Statute Chapter 222. However, there are still some federal exemptions which apply to Florida residents and they can be found in 11 U.S.C. '522 (d) (10). See similar questions...

Although you are not required to state a reason or explainwhy you are filing bankruptcy, the most common reasons for consumer bankrupcy are often beyond the control of the individual debtor: See similar questions...

Almost any individual, partnership or corporation may file a chapter 7 bankruptcy petition if he or she resides, has a domicile, a place of business, or property in the United States. If you filed a prior bankruptcy petition and the prior proceeding was dismissed within the last 180 days, you may not be able to file a second petition. See similar questions...

NO! Often people file bankruptcy before they are seriously delinquent on their monthly debts. If you can barely make the minimum payments required on your credit cards, or if it appears that you will not be able to make payments as they come due, it may be better for you to file bankruptcy rather than let your situation deteriorate. YES! A federal injunction (automatic stay) goes into effect immediately when a person files bankruptcy, which stops the foreclosure. See similar questions...

Answer: No. Under the new Bankruptcy Code, you must wait 8 years to file another Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. See similar questions...

If you were granted or denied a chapter 7 discharge in a prior case within the last 6 years or completed a chapter 13 plan in a prior case, you might not be entitled to receive a discharge in bankruptcy and probably are not a candidate for a chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. This rule does have some exceptions. See similar questions...

Answer: You can explore the specific Exemptions on the Bankruptcy Tab under the links tab (or by clicking here) In general, our clients have found the Arizona exemptions very generous. (You can find the preceding and all exemptions directly from the links to the Arizona Law on the links page - and you can read them for yourself - they are pretty straightforward). See similar questions...

The laws regarding the seizure of property vary from state to state. In Oklahoma, exempt assets in property include: Homestead - Real property or manufactured home to an unlimited value up to 1/4 acre, otherwise up to $5,000 for up to one acre in city or town and up to 160 acres elsewhere. Insurance - Includes assessment or mutual benefits, fraternal benefit society benefits, funeral benefits prepaid & placed in trust, group life policy or proceeds, and limited stock insurance benefits. See similar questions...

You typically file a Chapter 13 if (1) you are behind on a house or a car and you want to keep it, (2) you recently filed a Chapter 7 and can’t file another one, (3) you are making too much money to file a Chapter 7 or (4), you have some kind of property that would not be protected in a Chapter 7. See similar questions...