Welcome to Bankruptcy Guide
How Do I File For Bankruptcy Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Looking at the Forms Bankruptcy Can Take
from:There are many types or forms bankruptcy can take. The US bankruptcy laws are designed to help individuals, businesses and even municipalities that are having severe debt problems that appear to be unsolvable within the current income or revenue levels. There are many reasons why this happens, but the reasons seem unimportant when buried under a mountain of debt. As many people discover when bills become backlogged, debt collection practices are harsh. The phone rings off the hook with collectors, and the late notices and penalty charges only seem to make the situation worse by the day. When you owe back taxes, the IRS is relentless when it comes to collecting the money.
The forms of bankruptcy are defined as chapters. The chapters were written to provide a specific form for filing when you are an individual, farmer, business, or municipality. Most people are aware of the availability of bankruptcy laws applicable to people and businesses, but even counties and cities can find themselves unable to pay their debt. Right now there is a current case in Alabama in which a county cannot pay its sewer bonds and is considering filing bankruptcy.
The first form bankruptcy takes for individuals is chapter 7. A chapter 7 is a liquidation bankruptcy in which your non-exempted assets are used to pay off as much debt as possible and the remaining balances are eliminated. A chapter 13 is called an individual debt adjustment form. In this case, an individual agrees to a court defined debt repayment plan.
Another form bankruptcy can take is chapter 11 which is a business reorganization plan. Under this chapter, the business asks for the debt to be adjusted in a way that makes it workable. The business can also ask for a total reorganization which is often what you read about large corporations doing in order to stay in business. Farm businesses, on the other hand, will file a chapter 12 when needing debt relief.
The other types of bankruptcies are chapter 9 for municipalities and chapter 15 for ancillary cases or cases which don't fit the other defined chapters. There are even bankruptcy laws that address service people who are unable to pay their debts because they are overseas serving their country.
It is easy to see how complex the bankruptcy codes really is and it is a work in progress too. Every day new court cases refine the code based on actual experiences. A good bankruptcy attorney will always stay current on the laws so that you are able to get the best advice possible. The goal is to help you or your business start over again financially, but in a way that is the best fit for your situation.
How Do I File For Bankruptcy News
Fooled by pal Petters, restaurateur now bankrupt - Minneapolis Star Tribune
 Minneapolis Star Tribune | Fooled by pal Petters, restaurateur now bankrupt Minneapolis Star Tribune Earlier this month, as Petters' last direct appeal for a new trial was denied by the US Supreme Court, Vlahos was in US Bankruptcy Court in Minneapolis making a Chapter 7 filing to wipe away more than $11.8 million in obligations. |
Dewey Have Plans To File for Bankruptcy? Sources Say Yes - Above the Law
 Above the Law | Dewey Have Plans To File for Bankruptcy? Sources Say Yes Above the Law The news of a possible bankruptcy filing by Dewey was reported last night by the Wall Street Journal and then by Reuters. From the WSJ Law Blog: New York law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP is readying a possible bankruptcy-protection filing for sometime in ... |
Patients Go Bankrupt As Medical Costs Soar - KUNC
Patients Go Bankrupt As Medical Costs Soar KUNC By Colorado Public News and Erika Gonzalez Kimberly Fague filed for bankruptcy after an illness took its toll. The Colorado woman racked up $15000 in costs that her government health insurance didn't cover. In 2008, Kimberly Fague was diagnosed with ... |
The Rising Cost of Going Bankrupt - JD Supra (press release)
The Rising Cost of Going Bankrupt JD Supra (press release) by Lawyers.com on 5/21/2012 Bankruptcy is the last lifeline for consumers facing insurmountable debts, but it still comes at a price. Between 200000 and one million American consumers are estimated to be unable to afford the cost of filing for Chapter ... |
Dewey, Cooley, Proskauer, Davis Polk, Morrison: Business of Law - BusinessWeek
Dewey, Cooley, Proskauer, Davis Polk, Morrison: Business of Law BusinessWeek By Elizabeth Amon on May 22, 2012 As public expectation that Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP will file for bankruptcy as soon as this week increases, four firms made announcements about eight partner hires from the failing firm. The firm has had more than 234 ... |