If you are thinking about filing for bankruptcy relief, there are several options available, depending on your particular situation.

Chapter 7 - Individual Liquidation
Here, your assets are sold, and the proceeds of the sale are distributed among your various creditors. However, you are entitled by federal law to certain exemptions that allow you to keep some personal items such as household goods and necessities. However, many bankruptcy courts use the exemptions allowed in their states.

In order to prepare the consumer bankruptcy papers, the client must bring the following documents:

1. A list of all creditors, including addresses, account / loan numbers, and the amounts and description of each debt;
2. For each secured debt, such as a car loan or home mortgage:
   a. Copy of the latest statement showing the balance due on the debt;
   b. Copy of the DMV registration or recorded trust deed for each secured debt.
3. Income tax returns for the last two years, including W-2, 1099, and K-1 information;
4. Copies of the last two pay stubs or copies of bank statements for the last 90 days showing the amount and frequency of the client's income;
5. A detailed list of the debtor's monthly living expenses, i.e., food, clothing, housing, utilities, taxes, transportation, medicine, etc;
6. If self-employed, copies of monthly profit-and-loss statements for the past six months;
7. Copies of any lawsuits or judgments, regardless of whether the client is a plaintiff or defendant; and
8. Copies of any family trusts or prenuptial agreements.

Note: contact us by phone or e-mail to request a customized questionnaire and bring the completed questionnaire to the office conference.

How it works:

Once a bankruptcy petition is filed, the bankruptcy clerk mails notices to all the creditors listed. All creditors must cease contacting you. Until the stay ends, they cannot:

• Call you
• Send you bills
• Threaten you
• File a lawsuit Continue with an ongoing lawsuit

Violations
Any further harassment by your creditors after they have received notice of your bankruptcy, including further action regarding a lawsuit they may have filed against you, is considered a violation of the automatic stay, and they can be fined for such conduct.

However, such violations must be willful. Creditors who were not properly notified of the bankruptcy and continue their collection efforts may not be willful violators since they wouldn't know you had filed.

Stays in Effect
The automatic stay remains in effect from the date your bankruptcy petition is filed to the date your bankruptcy case is closed, dismissed, or a creditor is granted relief from the stay by the court.

Where real property is involved, the courts are more inclined to grant relief. For example, a landlord may be allowed to continue eviction proceedings against you for non-payment of rent. Or, your mortgage lender may be allowed to continue foreclosure if your home has little or no equity. Or your auto leasing company may be allowed to repossess your car if you are far behind in payments and the car still has a profitable resale value.

Motion for Relief
To request relief from the automatic stay, the creditor must file a motion with the bankruptcy, stating the reasons why the relief is necessary. Usually, these motions are heard by the court a few weeks after the motions are filed. Sometimes, as with eviction or foreclosure proceedings, the creditor will seek immediate relief.

Only Temporary
The automatic stay is a powerful weapon against further action by creditors. However, the automatic stay is temporary, and once your case is over, any creditors whose debts are non-dischargeable can resume their lawsuit, collection, or enforcement proceedings against you.

Bankruptcy is not without its consequences. When you file for bankruptcy relief, you are required to disclose just about everything about yourself. The information is not necessarily limited to financial information, and may contain some personal information that you may consider to be very private.

Required Information
On your bankruptcy petition, you must list:

• Your Social Security number
• Your current residence address, as well as your residence addresses over the past two years
• The name and address of your current employer and of any employers over the last two years
• All your monthly income and expenses
• The account balances of all checking and savings accounts
• The names and birth dates of any dependents
• The amount of spousal or child support you owe or are paying monthly
• Whether you are listed in a person's will
• All your assets, including real property, luxury items and antiques you own
• What kind of car you drive or own
• The name, account number, and debt regarding every creditor

Open to the Public
Bankruptcy filings are public records. Anyone can go to the bankruptcy clerk's office where your case is filed and look up your information. Copies of your bankruptcy can also be obtained for a small fee.

Tell the Truth
All information in your bankruptcy paperwork must be provided under penalty of perjury. If you omit any significant information, you run the risk of having your bankruptcy dismissed. You further run the risk of being prosecuted for bankruptcy fraud if, for example, you do not disclose the fact that you sold your house 6 months before filing for bankruptcy.

Be Prepared
If you file for bankruptcy relief, you must be prepared to disclose many things you may consider to be private. However, this may be a relatively small price to pay if your financial situation is dire.

Bankruptcy is a form of relief created by the U.S. Government, and therefore is federal law. Accordingly, all bankruptcy cases must be filed in the proper bankruptcy courts.

Federal Jurisdictions
Each state is divided into federal districts, which contain federal bankruptcy courts. In Texas, bankruptcy courts exist in the Northern District, Western District, Eastern District, and Southern District.

There may be divisions within the districts as well. For example, the Southern District has a Houston Division and a Galveston Division.

Special Bankruptcy Courts
Bankruptcy cases are filed in the bankruptcy court of the federal district where the debtor resides. A bankruptcy petition cannot be filed in a state court, which has no jurisdiction over federal matters such as bankruptcy.

For example, if you live in Houston, Texas, you cannot file your bankruptcy petition in the Harris County District Court. You must file your bankruptcy petition in the bankruptcy court of the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.

Other Requirements
To file for bankruptcy in a particular district, the debtor must have resided there for at least six months or have had a place of business in that district for at least six months.

The bankruptcy petition is filed with the clerk's office of the appropriate bankruptcy court. A nonrefundable filing fee is required, and the amount varies depending on the type of bankruptcy relief sought.

Although the petition and accompanying documents are generally the same for each court, each bankruptcy court has its own set of rules regarding filing procedures and formats.

Bankruptcy doesn't get rid of all debts. You're still responsible for:

• Alimony
• Child support
• Recent back taxes
• Student loans
• Recent large purchases
• Fines or penalties of government agencies
• Fraudulent debts

Exemption Protocol
If you choose the second exemption scheme, under Texas bankruptcy laws, you can keep your home, if not more than one acre in town or 100 acres out of town

• $30,000 worth of personal property, including one two-, three- or four-wheeled vehicle; two horses, mules or donkeys and a saddle, blanket and bridle for each; 12 head of cattle; 60 head of other livestock; 120 fowl; pets. Athletic and sporting equipment, home furnishing, family heirlooms; food and clothing; jewelry (but not to exceed 25 per cent of total exemptions); tools of your trade
• Burial plots
• Health aids
• Unemployment, disability, veterans', workers' compensation, and social security benefits
• Alimony and child support
• ERISUA Qualified Retirement plan and life insurance proceeds
• Business partnership property Farming or ranching vehicles and implements

An Advantage
Surrendering a secured asset during a bankruptcy proceeding may help you avoid a deficiency judgment. This usually occurs when a secured creditor repossesses an asset, sells it for less than what's owed, and then obtains a judgment against you for the balance (usually because you cannot pay the difference, or refuse to pay it).

Although you are protected from a deficiency judgment if you surrender an asset through bankruptcy, surrender outside of a bankruptcy does not protect you from a deficiency judgment.

You Can Keep Assets
The bankruptcy code permits you to keep secured assets through reaffirmation of purchase agreements, or through redemption. If you are not in the financial position to reaffirm or redeem an asset, you may have no other option but to surrender the asset to the secured creditor.

If you no longer have the asset, and still owe money to the secured creditor, you must still pay the secured creditor for the asset. Failure to pay may result in an adversary proceeding by the creditor against you for conversion, which would make the debt not dischargeable.