Are you suffering a financial hardship?
We work hard for our money and try to be diligent in our spending. But, sometimes things don’t always go according to plan, and we run into financial difficulty that can spiral out of control. And when that happens, it’s highly possible that we will end up losing our homes or other valuable assets. It’s at this time that considering bankruptcy may not be such a bad idea. While we may all want to live the American dream by living in a big house with nice cars and a vacation every year, sometimes life has a funny way of stepping in and taking a turn for the worse.
Your intentions may be good, but you can’t ever predict the big life-altering moments such as the loss of a job or a life-threatening illness that keeps you out of work and causes you to rack up a large medical bill. Because of this, your income is cut to nothing and you struggle to pay your bills. When this happens, you’ll want to consider Chapter 7 bankruptcy and a meeting with an experienced bankruptcy attorney.
A good Baton Rouge Bankruptcy attorney can help you get the fresh financial start that you need!
To file for Chapter 7, you first must qualify. This means your income needs to be below a certain level. Many Chapter 7 bankruptcies are considered “no asset” bankruptcies, meaning the debtor has no nonexempt assets to be sold in order to pay his debts.
Nonexempt Assets
When you file for Chapter 7, a trustee, appointed by the court, administers your case. The Trustee may require you to pay the Court something for your nonexempt assets and distribute those proceeds to your creditors, or you may turn in that property to the Court. Both the state and federal guidelines allow for some exemptions and those that qualify for exemption are yours to keep.
No-Asset Bankruptcy
If you can exempt all of your assets, the trustee cannot liquidate them and therefore they can’t be used to pay off your debt. If this happens, your trustee files a report and the creditors don’t receive much, if anything, in the way of payment.
Exemptions are there to allow the debtor to retain a certain amount of property in order to make a fresh financial start after bankruptcy. How much property you can protect in Chapter 7 bankruptcy is determined by state law and the overall value of your assets.
To find out more about asset exemptions and to determine if you qualify for Chapter 7, you should sit down and discuss your situation with an experienced bankruptcy attorney. Your attorney will not only explain the Chapter 7 process, but he will advise if you qualify for other types of bankruptcy.
The bottom line is that you owe it to yourself to find out how you can take advantage of the bankruptcy process that can help you and your family get a fresh financial start.