Ultimately a Chapter 7 bankruptcy provides you relief from nearly all, if not all, of your debt. It provides you a way to start over with your finances.
The laws and regulations governing Chapter 7 bankruptcy have changed extensively over the past few years. However, the aim hasn’t changed. It exists to aid citizens who get themselves in a financial situation where they have an overwhelming amount of debt with no prospect of ever being able to completely pay that debt off.
To get the bankruptcy process started, you have to file a petition in Federal bankruptcy court. It is recommended that you use an attorney to handle this filing for you. Once your attorney files your petition, you get instantaneous protection from any lawsuit by your creditors. That protection is designated an “automatic stay.” Essentially, the automatic stay of bankruptcy stops all collection action by your lenders. In actuality, as soon as you file your bankruptcy petition, your debt collectors are prohibited by federal law from contacting you for repayment or from filing any sort of collection claim against you.
As part of your bankruptcy proceeding, you will have to attend a hearing at bankruptcy court. The hearing typically takes place in a room with you, the bankruptcy trustee (i.e., the individual assigned by the court to watch over your case) and your lawyer. The whole process usually only takes about fifteen minutes, at some stage in which the trustee will ask you some questions on the subject of your take-home pay and your debts. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trustee makes a recommendation to the bankruptcy court to discharge your debt. A discharge order is subsequently mailed to you. It may possibly take more than a few months for you to actually receive your discharge order.
Be aware that your lenders can appear at your hearing to speak for their interests and oppose your bankruptcy discharge. But, it’s really an extraordinary situation where a creditor actually shows up. In most cases, the bankruptcy is fairly effortlessly accomplished without any protests from creditors.
Bankruptcy may well be your only out if you’re burdened beneath a sizeable sum of debt that you have no means to pay back. Therefore, if you are in debt way over your head and are having difficulty making normal payments, you owe it to yourself to at least seek the advice of a bankruptcy lawyer concerning the prospect of filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Want Plain English explanations of Bankruptcy Law, then visit Harvey L. Cox’s Bankruptcy Law site and understand your options without the legalese.