It depends on the type of bankruptcy you are declaring.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The charge is $800 (Liquidation bankruptcy)

Chapter 13 bankruptcy $900 (Payment Plan bankruptcy)

It depends on the type of bankruptcy you are declaring, and perhaps how much equity you have in assets that you own. In general, you can retain $10,000 of equity in a home, $2,400 of equity in a vehicle, $2,500 of cash, most furnishings & in most cases, retirement accounts.

YES! Most consumer oriented debts, such as credit cards and medical bills, are dischargeable. However, certain debts such as taxes, student loans, child support and alimony are NOT dischargeable.

Chapter 13 bankruptcies can be used to bring a defaulted mortgage current through a payment plan lasting 3-5 years.

Yes, if you have not been out of NY more than 90 days. However, like most things in the Bankruptcy Code, the answer is not quite as simple as it seems.

The state in which you must file is controlled by 11 U.S.C. § 1408. That statute specifies that you can file only in the state in which you have had your domicile, residence, principal assets or principal place of business for the majority of the last 180 days.

In most consumer bankruptcy cases, the location of filing (we lawyer types call this venue) is based on residence. As a result, you could file in NY you had resided in the other state for more than 90 days.

But wait! It can get more complicated if you moved to yet another state before you have been out of NY for 90 days. NY might state you would have to file even when you cut your back had been out of NY for six months! Remember, you can only file in the state where you have resided longest in the last 180 days.

One final note: If you file in NY you will have to return to NY state for the court meeting.

The simple answer is that you can file in NY after you have resided here for 90 days. The Bankruptcy code is almost never that simple, and if you read the previous question, this answer is going to sound very familiar.

The state in which you must file is controlled by 11 U.S.C. § 1408. That statute specifies that you can file only in the state in which you have had your domicile, residence, principal assets or principal place of business for the majority of the last 180 days.

Since residence controls the place most consumer bankruptcies are filed, you can file here after you have resided here longer here than in any other state in the last six months. If you were only in NY and no other state that would be on the 91st day you are here. If you resided in two other states for 60 days each, you could file here after you have been here for 61 days. I'll let you do the math, but if you move a lot, it could be even less time.

Although you cannot file until you have met the residency requirement, you may retain an attorney and begin preparation of your case anytime if your attorney will allow creditors to his or her office.

Bankruptcy cases generally have to be filed in the court having jurisdiction over cases in the county in which you reside, but there are exceptions. If most of your assets are in another location, or your principal place of business is in another location, you may file in the court in that location. § 1408.

Cases are public records, so any paper choosing to do so may publish the names of persons who have filed. I am aware papers in the Buffalo area that publish those names, such as the Buffalo News and Business First.

Yes, once you have filed in the correct state (see the jurisdictional requirements above), you may move wherever you wish, assuming you return for your §341 meeting and have a local attorney who can handle whatever else comes up. Naturally, you will need to be sure to keep your attorney, the trustee and the court advised of your address.

Yes, you can file Chapter 13 even right after a Chapter 7. That is those of us in the bankruptcy practice would call a "Chapter 20." There is no real Chapter 20.

Yes. Unless the judgment is based on the kind of debt which would not be discharged (i.e. child support, spousal maintenance, fraud, personal injury resulting from DUI, student loans, etc.), the discharge which you get in bankruptcy will extinguish your personal liability for the debt.

Unfortunately, the discharge of a judgment does not remove the judgment from property to which it might have attached before the discharge. The judgment cannot be used to collect against you personally, but it may still be used against property which you owned before the discharge.

When a judgment is recorded, it becomes a lien, similar to a mortgage, on property that you own. Even though your personal liability on the judgment will be discharged, the lien will remain on the property. You will not be able to sell the property until the lien is paid or removed, and in some cases the creditor may sell the property to pay the lien. If the property is exempt (i.e. your homesteaded house, or mobile home) that lien can be removed. This is not part of the ordinary bankruptcy procedure. While your bankruptcy is open, you must request your attorney to file a Complaint to Avoid a Judgment Lien. There is an extra charge for this action. L9M

No, with one exception. Education loans and benefit overpayments made, insured or guaranteed by the government are not generally discharged in Chapter 7 or Chapter 13

Educational loans may be discharged only if the court finds that the loan "will impose an undue hardship on the debtor and the debtor's dependents." [§523(a)(8)(B)l You must be able to demonstrate that you cannot make payments the loan at the time the case is filed or in the future.

You must apply for the hardship discharge while your case is still open (before the discharge is granted). In Chapter 7 this Is usually about 6 months from the date the case is filed. In Chapter 13 the case will be open until after the last plan payment is made (3 to 5 years).

Application for a hardship discharge is not included in the Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 fees and must be requested and paid for after the case has been filed.

Since the bankruptcy code does not specify the exact requirements for a hardship discharge of an education loan, the courts may apply slightly different standards. Most courts, including those in NY apply a three part test to discharge educational loans:

• Income test If you are forced to pay the education loans you will not be able to maintain a "minimal" standard of living for yourself and your dependents.
• Duration test. The financial circumstances which meet the income test are likely to continue for a substantial portion of the repayment period.
• Good faith test. You must have made a good faith
  attempt to repay the loans.

The date t you were looking for was the date that the first payment on the loan was due. Depending upon the kind and conditions of the loan the first payment would often be 6 months after the end of school attendance.

Unfortunately for those seeking to discharge educational loans, this date no longer has any relevance, since educational loans can no longer be discharged in bankruptcy regardless of how old they are. The only basis tor discharge is that repayment of the loan will impose an undue hardship upon the debtor and the debtor's dependents.

A subsequent change increased this period from 5 to 7 years for both Chapter 7 and 13 cases filed after May 1991.

Another change eliminated the ability to get a discharged because of the age of the educational loan in Chapter 7 and 13 cases filed after October 7.

Your cosigner's liability for the debt is not affected by your discharge.

Cosigners; are almost always joint and severally liable. This means the creditor can collect the entire debt from any person who has signed for the debt. If one of the signers receives a discharge, the creditor will still be able to collect the entire debt (plus interest, attorneys fees and collection charges, if the contract provides) from the other signers.

The division of debt in the divorce decree affects only you and your husband. If your husband does not pay the bill, the creditor may come after you for the entire debt. You may have an action against your husband for his violation of the court order, but you may be no more successful in collecting from him may be no
better than the creditor who has apparently decided that you are a better target.

If you file Chapter 11 33, a co debtor stay automatically goes into
Chapter 9c. In effect prohibiting creditors; from collecting consumer debt from co debtors. In order maintain this protection, your Chapter 13 plan must provide creditor payment of the entire debt and interest. [9 98]

Yes, you can file and discharge (or cancel) your debt under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy However, if you and your husband are divorced, you cannot not file bankruptcy together each of you would have to file separately.

Yes. You may not get a discharge for any debt which you do not list. In addition, you will sign a declaration under penalty of perjury that your schedules listing your creditors are "true and correct". Intentionally omitting a creditor could be a violation of this oath. [9 98]

If you have an account with no balance (such as a Visa or MasterCard which has been paid off), you do not owe that company any money and it does not have to be listed. The creditor may still allow you to use the account after the bankruptcy. However some creditors (American Express, for example) may check bankruptcy filings and may cancel the card even if they are not listed. [9 98]

If you pay any creditor a total of more than $600 within 90 days before your case is filed, you must list those payments in your schedules as a preference. If the creditor was a relative or business associate, payments which total $600 or more within the year before your cases is filed are preferences and must be listed. The Chapter 7 trustee may make the creditor turn over those payments to him to be divided between all of the creditors. In Chapter 13, the amount of your payments may be effected by preferences. See §547 [9 98]

Yes, if you add the creditor soon enough. In order to share in any assets which the Trustee distributes, creditors must file a Proof of Claim within 60 days after date your meeting with the Trustee is originally scheduled. You can add a creditor only if the creditor receives notice of the Bankruptcy in time to file a Proof of Claim. [9 98]

It does seem rather harsh, doesn't it? That was the simple answer. It gets a bit more complicated and depends upon the kind of Chapter 7 case which you had, as well as which court your case might be in. Here is the complicated answer:

Many courts would hold that debts will be discharged in a noasset Chapter 7 case even if they are not listed. There are two key phrases in that answer that require more explanation.

The bankruptcy code is not at all clear on this subject. While the trend appears to be that the unlisted debts in no asset cases are discharged without any further action, the code has been interpreted in differently in many courts. Some courts would allow you to reopen the case to add a debt. Others would say that the debt cannot be added and therefore is not discharged.

•No asset. In many Chapter 7 cases, there are no nonexempt assets which the Trustee may sell for the benefit of the creditors. These are called "no asset" cases.

Courts say that unlisted debt is discharged in no asset cases have carefully read Section 523(a)(3)(A). This section excepts debt from discharge if they were not listed in time for the creditor to file a timely proof of claim. The proof of claim is used by the Trustee to determine the proportion to divide the debtor's assets between the creditors. In a no asset case, there will be nothing to divide and no reason to file a proof of claim. As a result, in no-asset cases the bankruptcy notice instructs creditors that they are not to file a proof of claim. Courts taking this position reason that since it will never be too late to file a proof of claim, a debt is not excepted from discharge because it has not been listed. Cases in which the courts reach this conclusion include: In re Madaj, 149 F.3d 467 (6th Cir. 1998); Judd v. Wolfe, 78 F.3d 110 (3rd Cir. 1996); Stone v. Caplan, 10 F.3d 285, 289, n. 13 (5th Cir.1994); and In re Beezley 994 F.2d 1433 (9th Cir.1993). [8¬

These questions and answers are not intended as legal advice or as a statement of the law. They are intended to suggest areas which you should discuss with your attorney.

Although Bankruptcy law is Federal code applicable to all states, the way it is applied may depend upon state law and varying practices of the courts, trustees, and even attorneys. As a result, some of these answers are directly applicable only in cases filed by our office in New York.