Chapter 7 works best when you are of modest income (around $70,000 or less for a family of 4, or $40,000 or less for an individual). It works best when your debt is mostly unsecured (credit card, medical, signature loans). If you own property like a house or car, you should have little to no equity in that property. And finally, Chapter 7 works best when you have not recently made any large lump sum payments or transfers to anyone.

You can still fit into a Chapter 7 if you don’t meet all of these conditions, but we will have to work a little harder to squeeze you into Chapter 7. We feel that Chapter 7 offers the most complete form of bankruptcy relief so if you can fit into a Chapter 7, you should go with this option.

Start to finish, most Chapter 7 cases last about 5 months. This means that your credit starts to recover very quickly (as compared to Chapter 13, which lasts 5 years). The speed in which you can go from being buried in debt to being debt free makes Chapter 7 a very attractive solution.

As a general rule, you should avoid making any major transactions prior to filing bankruptcy. For example, do not try to protect friends or relatives by paying back an old debt. Do not engage in a credit card “binge” at the mall. Avoid borrowing against or cashing out retirement plans. Do not open new credit accounts or use existing accounts when you have no reasonable expectation to repay.

If you think that bankruptcy is even a remote possibility, feel free to call our office at 770-393-4985 and speak to Susan or Jonathan about mistakes to avoid specific to your situation.

The minute your attorney presses the “submit” button to electronically file your Chapter 7 case, you are immediately and automatically protected by the automatic stay. The clerk of bankruptcy court will mail out the official notice of filing and all of your creditors will receive written notice within about 3 to 5 days.

Our office will provide you with a printout from the electronic filing process to document your filing so you will have proof of bankruptcy protection should anyone call or otherwise contact you. Your attorney will also contact by phone or email any lender, law firm or collection agency that may be contacting you and we will stop any collection calls or pending creditor action (including foreclosures or repossessions). Any creditor who ignores actual notice of filing may be liable to you for money damages for violation of the automatic stay.

Over 95% of Chapter 7 cases result in “no action” by the Chapter 7 trustee and by your creditors, so the odds are very good that we will not have any problems with your case.

Every so often we will file a case where an issue does arise. Most often the problems we see involve pre-filing borrowing or use of credit by our clients. If you incur debt within 6 months to 1 year prior to filing and there is no “reasonable expectation of repayment” then your creditor(s) may ask the judge to rule that some or all of the debt owed to that creditor be deemed non-dischargeable and survive your bankruptcy. If such an objection occurs in your case, we can either negotiate a compromise or litigate the issue before the judge.

Less often we see objections by the trustee arising from pre-bankruptcy transfers of property, or issues related to the value of property. Here, too, we can negotiate a settlement or litigate.

Finally, in very rare circumstances, the trustee or a creditor may object on the grounds that important and relevant information was not disclosed, such as an interest in real estate or jewelry, or an interest in a bank account or other asset. Needless to say, our law firm will not knowingly mislead the court and we encourage our clients to make full and completely disclosures to us so we can offer the best possible advice.

In well over 95% of the Chapter 7 cases we file at Ginsberg Law Offices, our clients will keep all of their property. You are able to keep your personal property like your household items, clothes, furniture, dishes, appliances, sporting goods, etc. because these items are considered exempt property under the bankruptcy law.

Interestingly, while your bankruptcy is filed in a federal court, the exemption rules that apply in your case are set out under Georgia law. Prior to filing, we will carefully evaluate your list of assets to confirm that this property falls within the exemption rules.

In the rare circumstance where you may own property that is not exempt, we can advise you about various options, including selling non-exempt property prior to filing, negotiating a buy out with the trustee and other possibilities.

Not much. Your meeting of creditors hearing (also called a “341 hearing” will last about 5 minutes. The Chapter 7 trustee (not a judge) presides over the hearing and your case will be one of about 10 or 12 scheduled for the hour.

Creditors are allowed to appear and ask questions, but our experience has been that creditors or their lawyers only show up about 10% of the time.

You will be asked to show two forms of ID and you will be asked to swear under penalty of perjury that all the information in your petition is correct. The trustee will ask you a series of questions (we will prepare you ahead of time) and assuming no significant changes in your financial profile, you will be excused.

We recommend that you arrive at the hearing room 30 minutes early to observe several hearings prior to yours.

If you are buying secured property (like a house, car, furniture, or jewelry) and you file Chapter 7, you have the option of surrendering the property and walking away from the debt, or reaffirming the secured debt and keeping the property.

A reaffirmation agreement is the contract by which you renew your obligation and continue to fulfil your obligations under the original loan contract.

As your Chapter 7 lawyers, we will advise you about the pros and cons of entering into a reaffirmation agreement. In some cases, it is possible to continue making payments and not enter a reaffirmation, while in other cases, reaffirmation or another option called “redemption” makes sense.

Generally, if you reaffirm a debt, your future payments will positively impact your credit, but if you continue paying without a reaffirmation, your credit reports will not reflect your on-time payments.

When you file your Chapter 7 case, the bankruptcy law requires that you update your budget if your income or expenses change substantially. In some cases, this may mean that we have to look into converting to a Chapter 13 repayment plan, while in other cases, we can keep you in Chapter 7.

With over 35 years of combined experience, Susan and Jonathan have seen and handled just about any type of crisis or problem in Chapter 7 cases and we stand ready to guide you if your budget changes during your Chapter 7.

In most Chapter 7 cases, an omitted creditor will not create problems for you. If the omitted creditor is an unsecured creditor like a credit card lender or medical provider, that omitted creditor will be treated just like your other unsecured creditors - the debt will be discharged.

If you left off a secured creditor (such as a mortgage lender, car finance company) it is likely that this creditor will not be subject to your bankruptcy discharge. If you intentionally left off a creditor, that creditor might have the right to force a reopening of your case, which could lead to a variety of problems.

The bottom line here is that is you left off a creditor, let your attorney know as soon as possible so that we can advise you how to best proceed.

Generally, your Chapter 7 case will last between 5 and 6 months from filing to discharge. You can start to rebuild your credit the day after you file your case, although it is rare to find a lender who will extend credit to you while you are still in bankruptcy.

Our experience has been that it takes most people about 6 months to 1 year after discharge before credit card lenders and others will extend credit. In many ways you are a better credit risk after bankruptcy because you have little or no debt and you are not eligible to file another bankruptcy for up to 8 years.