Fortunately you aren't stuck with just one kind of bankruptcy but you have a choice. This most often depends on the debt owed and your financial circumstances. I have listed below a number of the available bankruptcy choices. Read them carefully and you may understand your position a little better and you will be able to understand your attorney more when you discuss the matter later.
One of the following categories of bankruptcy may best suit your needs:
Chapter 13
Often referred to as “wage-earner” bankruptcy. Under chapter 13, a debtor with a regular wage or some other source of regular income can continue to pay some or all of their debts back to their creditors under a court-approved repayment plan. Sometimes this can of great benefit because you can usually keep your property and you must agree to pay part of your income to your creditors. The court must approve your repayment plan and your budget. Usually, a trustee is appointed and who collects the payments from you, pays your creditors, and makes sure you live up to the terms of the proposed repayment schedule. There's a trustee fee in these repayment plans and sometimes it's not inexpensive.
In addition, there are certain requirements to filing a chapter 13 besides a regular income. At the time of writng, you must owe less than $250,000 in noncontingent, liquidated, unsecured debts and owe less than $750,000 in noncontingent, liquidated, secured debts. If you filed a prior bankruptcy petition and the prior proceeding was dismissed within the last 180 days, you may not be able to file a second petition. This is a good thing to conult your attorney on.
Chapter 7
Often related to as a “straight bankruptcy”, chapter 7 is the most common for individuals and the one most people are familiar with. Most or all debts are cancelled under chapter 7. Usually a trustee is appointed to take over your property. As discussed earlier, some specific assets must be surrendered to the trustee or sold in order to reimburse your creditors. You may be able to keep some personal items and possibly real estate depending on the law of the state. There is a discussion below regarding exemption of assets. Be aware that if you filed a prior bankruptcy petition and the prior proceeding was dismissed within the last 180 days, you may not be able to file a second petition. You would be well advised to meet with an attorney on this matter if you have filed within the last 180 days.
If you were either granted or denied a chapter 7 discharge in a prior case within the last 6 years, you might not be entitled to receive a discharge from bankruptcy and probably are not a candidate for a chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. Although, there can be some exceptions.