chapter 7

If you live are under tremendous financial pressure and unable to pay off your outstanding debts, then filing bankruptcy may be the only viable option that you have.

As an individual you have a choice of filing for bankruptcy under two chapters. An explanation of both the chapters – and how to choose the chapter more suitable for you – is given below.

Chapter 7

You can file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 only if you pass the “Means Test”.

This test involves calculating your gross income and assets and deducting your liabilities and your expenses during the past 6 months prior to you having filed for bankruptcy. These numbers are then compared with the average median income of a similar sized family in Texas.

If your net income is lower, then you qualify for filing under Chapter 7; otherwise, you may have to file under Chapter 13. Once you file under Chapter 7, the court will appoint a trustee, who will sell off your unprotected or non-exempt assets to pay off your creditors.

Your case can be discharged within 6 months if you file for bankruptcy under this Chapter. Since normally your home and cars will be exempt, you will be able to retain these assets.

Chapter 13 Explained

Unlike Chapter 7, filing under Chapter 13 will give you the chance to repay your outstanding debts over a longer period of time, usually between 3 to 5 years. You also have the chance to keep all your property.

As with Chapter 7, once your attorney files for bankruptcy under Chapter 13 on your behalf, your creditors will no longer be able to foreclose on your home or take your possessions. By law, they must also stop harassing you immediately.

Once you file under Chapter 13, you will need to submit a repayment plan to the court, detailing your plan to pay off your debts. Your bankruptcy attorney can even try to get a part of your loan discharged, so that you can pay off the rest.

If your plan is approved, the court will appoint a trustee, who will monitor your repayment schedule to ensure that you stick to it.

Chapter 13 or 7?

Usually (depending on the situation), individuals try to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 in order to get most of their outstanding debts discharged. The time taken to do this is also quite less as compared to filing under Chapter 13.

The problem is that with the new, stricter laws put into place after October 2005, you might find it difficult to file under Chapter 7 and might have to file under Chapter 13. Most of your assets may also be disposed of by the court trustee in order to satisfy your creditors.

This might not happen under Chapter 13.

Therefore, Chapter 13 allows you to stay in control as you chart out a repayment plan stretching between 3 to 5 years. If you are wary of losing many of your assets and do not mind a longer repayment plan, then you could ask your bankruptcy attorney if you can file under Chapter 13.

However, if you want your case to get discharged within a short time and are unable to come up with a long-term plan to raise money to pay off your creditors, then filing under Chapter 7 would be a better option.

So, compare both chapters with your bankruptcy attorney before deciding on which chapter is the better option.

How To Survive Bankruptcy

Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to any business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most prominently used by corporate entities. Whereas, Chapter 7 governs the process of a liquidation bankruptcy, and Chapter 13 provides a reorganization process for the majority of private individuals.

When a business is unable to service its debt or pay its creditors, the business or its creditors can file with a federal bankruptcy court for protection under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 11.

In Chapter 7 the business ceases operations, a trustee sells all of its assets, and then distributes the proceeds to its creditors. Any residual amount is returned to the owners of the company. In Chapter 11, in most instances the debtor remains in control of its business operations as a debtor in possession, and is subject to the oversight and jurisdiction of the court.

This Chapter is by and large used for business bankruptcies and restructuring. It not considered as a viable option for individual consumers given that it is far more complex and expensive to pursue. Chapter 11 permits businesses an opportunity to reorganize themselves, allowing them a chance to restructure their debt and get out from beneath specific troublesome deeds and agreements. Normally, a business is permitted to carry on functioning at the same time as it is in Chapter 11 under the watchful eye of the Bankruptcy Court and its appointees.

Another option that can be utilized under is Chapter 11 is to liquidate the assets of the business and reimburse the creditors from the realization. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is almost certainly the most flexible of all the chapters, and the same time the hardest to generalize. Its flexibility makes it generally more expensive to the debtor. However, the success rate of Chapter 11 reorganizations is miserably low, estimated at only 10% or less. Therefore, filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy should only be used as a last resort.

A much better solution is Debt Settlement. Often referred to as Debt Negotiation, Debt Settlement is a direct and ambitious approach to debt reduction and it is best suited for individuals that have considered filing for Bankruptcy protection.

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