Personal Bankruptcy Chapter 7

1125 Words3 Pages

A personal bankruptcy is a legal proceeding involving an individual who no longer has financial means to pay outstanding, non-business debts. There are two main types of personal bankruptcy: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. To qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the debtor must pass a means test which judges whether his income is adequate to support his family and payback debts. If the means test is passed, debtor makes a petition of his assets and liabilities, which is presented to a district court. Chapter 7 is a straight bankruptcy, meaning most debts are forgiven and the value of the debtor’s liquid assets are used to repay some of the debt.
In cases where a debtor receives an adequate income, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is often used. In Chapter 13, the debtor submits to the bankruptcy court a plan to payback the incurred debt from future income or property. The payments are made to a Chapter 13 trustee, who then distributes it to the creditors.
Although bankruptcy declarations are effective in reducing debt, they can have disastrous effects on an individual’s financial records, and still the process is often abused. This fraud is known as bad faith filing. The main reason to do so is to receive a Chapter 7 bankruptcy so many of one’s debts will be …show more content…

Both of these arguments affect each other and need to be considered. When it comes to bankruptcy, debtors and creditors need to be aware of the secondary effects of bankruptcy and repayment. A large number of bankruptcies can directly and indirectly affect the economy in respect to credit rates and consumer purchasing decisions. If one of the two points, economic or social, becomes too strong, it can have negative effects on the economy. Repayment plans need to be in a safe range so as to not put the debtor in financial stress, but the bankruptcy system needs to be be set so abuse of the laws does not occur and hurt creditors

Open Document