What Is Chapter 7 Bankruptcy And The Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Laws

Filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is a lengthy and overwhelming process. Any individual or business filing a Bankruptcy petition should consult a Bankruptcy lawyer for expert legal advice.  It is important to understand Chapter 7 Bankruptcy laws.  The process of filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy includes determining the eligibility, collecting paperwork, filing paperwork, consulting a Bankruptcy lawyer and much more before the process is completed. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is a form of Bankruptcy available to individuals, businesses, and partnerships that need to have their debts removed from their records. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing comes with a cost for the individual or the business filing. A $245 (at the point of writing) case filing fee must be paid to the court, a $39 miscellaneous administrative fee must be paid to the court, and a $15 trustee surcharge must be paid to the trustee when filing for Bankruptcy.

Step One to Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy : Determine Eligibility
The first step in filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is determining the eligibility of individuals and companies. Any individual, partnership, corporation or sole proprietorship is eligible to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in the United States. Any debtor that has filed for another form of Bankruptcy within the previous 180 days of filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and failed to show up in court or voluntarily declined to show up in court cannot file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. In addition, any debtor that did not seek proper counseling from an approved credit counseling company 180 days prior to filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is not allowed to file for a Bankruptcy petition. In emergencies, there are exceptions that can allow debtors that fall into the above categories to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy as determined by the United States trustee.

Step Two to Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy: Consult with a Bankruptcy Lawyer
The second, and probably the most important step of all, is to consult a Bankruptcy lawyer prior to filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Discussing an individual or company’s financial records should be done in the presence of a Bankruptcy lawyer who has years of experience in the legal field so that he or she will be able to handle any type of case that comes across their desk. The most experienced Bankruptcy lawyer will suggest alternatives to Bankruptcy, and not just pressure their client into filing for Bankruptcy as soon as possible. A chapter 7 Bankruptcy lawyer will also make what is an overwhelming and stressful process easier to deal with when filing paperwork and appearing in court for Bankruptcy hearings.

Step Three to Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy: File the Petition
When filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, the debtor must sit down with his or her lawyer and collect all of the required paperwork needed to make the process official. The debtor must provide the following information in their paperwork regarding their financial records:

•A list of all creditors and the amount and nature of their claims
•The source, amount, and frequency of the debtor's income
•A list of all of the debtor's property
•A detailed list of the debtor's monthly living expenses, i.e., food, clothing, shelter, utilities, taxes, transportation, medicine, etc

Other paperwork that must be collected and filed with the government is a certificate that shows a debtor successfully completed a credit-counseling workshop within the previous 180 days, the most recent federal tax return of the debtor, and also the wage stubs of the debtor for the previous 60 days if the filer was working. When working closely with a Bankruptcy lawyer, the debtor will be guided by the Bankruptcy lawyer on how to file all of their Bankruptcy paperwork. The paperwork must be filed with the courts along with a couple of Bankruptcy fees. The first fee is $245 case filing fee, a $39 miscellaneous administrative fee, and a $15 trustee fee that must be paid to the trustee assigned to the case from the United States government. Upon the completion filing of Bankruptcy, the debtor must pay these fees immediately to the clerk of the court where the case is being filed.