NATIONAL DIVORCE & BANKRUPTCY CENTER

Now In Our 14th Year!

The Federal Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994 Authorizes Non-Lawyers (Us) To Prepare Bankruptcy Paperwork For Debtors (You) - Without Hiring A Lawyer!!! You Make the Decisions - We Do the Paperwork!

divorcehelp@sw.rr.com

Phone: (940) 691-3120| Fax

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FILING BANKRUPTCY IMMEDIATELY STOPS:

• Harrasment by Creditors and all attempts to collect the debt
• Foreclosure
• Repossession
• IRS Seizures Interest and penalties

Debtors get much needed 'breathing room' and discharge or reorganize (chapter 13):

• Credit Card Debt
• Home Arrearages
• Auto Payment Arrearages
• Student Loans
• Taxes

Chapter 7

Chapter 13

Not dischargeable in Chapter 7 are recent taxes;  family support;  student loans ;  drunk driving judgments;  criminal fines or restitution; or debts incurred by fraud or intentional wrongdoing.   The complete list of non-dischargeable debts is found at 11 U.S.C. 523(a)  and is set out in table form  here at Discharge of debt in Chapter 7  Everything else is dischargeable:  loans, credit card debts, judgments, medical bills, old income taxes.   More on treatment of different kinds of debt in bankruptcy. Remember, liens and mortgages survive the bankruptcy:  the debtor personally has no further liability for the debt, but the lien (a charge on the asset that is the collateral)  survives as an interest in the asset.  In appropriate circumstances, liens can be avoided because they impair an exemption or because the lien doesn't really attach to any value in the collateral.

In Chapter 13, only family support, fines, student loans, and drunk driving judgments are non dischargeable.   However, the Chapter 13 plan must provide for payment in full of priority taxes and past due support. Debts incurred by fraud or intentional wrongdoing may be discharged if the debtor can demonstrate the plan is proposed in "good faith".   What precisely is "good faith" occupies judges, lawyers and scholars and consumes lots of trees!

What debts are discharged in  Chapter 7
dischargeable		possibly dischargeable		not dischargeable
Personal loans Credit cards Repossession deficiencies Auto accident claims Judgments Business debts Leases Guaranties Negligence claims		Property settlements or division of debts in divorce Willful and malicious injuries to others Embezzlement Debts incurred by fraud or dishonesty Debts arising from breach of fiduciary duty     A creditor contesting the discharge of these debts must take prompt action to contest the discharge of his claim.		Recent taxes Trust fund taxes Child or family support Criminal fine or restitution Auto accident claims involving intoxication Debts not scheduled Penalties payable to the government other than tax penalties Student loans Debts listed in prior bankruptcy where debtor was denied a discharge