How To Claim Bankruptcy – What You Should Think About

Bankruptcy is a situation where a person or legal entity can no longer repay or service their debt. With the recent economic downturn many people have been caught out by finding themselves in a situation where not only can they not afford to repay their debt, they cannot afford to pay the interest. This has meant that many are now looking to find out how to claim bankruptcy.

However, a bankruptcy petition is sometimes not a matter of personal choice. A creditor can file a Bankruptcy Order against a debtor, and bankruptcy proceedings will continue even if the individual against whom it has been served ignores or disputes it.

Claiming bankruptcy should only be entered into as a last resort, and all avenues should be explored before taking this final step.

So what are the pros and cons of Bankruptcy?

The most popular chapter to file bankruptcy under is chapter 7, where an individual has all debt taken away. Not all debt can be written off however, and if the main contributor to the bankruptcy is debt that has to be repaid, a chapter 13 bankruptcy is the more appropriate chapter.

There are two downsides to this however.

The main disadvantage is that the majority of your possessions are liquidated to pay your creditors.

The other downside is that those who have had financial dealings with you in the past, if, after selling all your possessions are still out of pocket, are unlikely to want to have any financial dealings with you in future.

All the above relates to chapter 7 bankruptcy laws.

New laws introduced in 2005 make all bankruptcy applicants undergo a financial means test.

In addition, your income is examined and if, over the 6 months prior to filing, your income is more than the median in your state for a family of your size (and you fail the means test), you cannot claim chapter 7 and are pushed into chapter 13.

No personal property is liquidated under chapter 13, but all debt is repaid under a 3-5 year repayment plan.

The means test used to define an individuals allowances and income is complex and quite harsh. The means test can also make your income look better than it is, resulting in a repayment plan that leaves an individual with very little disposable income.

After bankruptcy, rebuilding one’s credit score is vital. Your credit record will retain details of a chapter 7 bankruptcy for a period of 10 years and a chapter 13 for 7 years.

For more free information on how to claim bankruptcy and the various chapters and how they work, go to www.howtoclaimbankruptcy.net

Bankruptcy And Social Stigma

It is hard for anybody who becomes insolvent. It shows in no uncertain terms that your money management skills are not up to scratch and you can’t meet your commitments financially anymore. In the past becoming insolvent was just a step on the path to becoming bankrupt, nowadays it is not as certain.

By introducing legal alternatives for the high number of people suffering insolvency, the UK Government was able to solve the high number of bankruptcy rates in the country. The two solutions that the government introduced were the IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) and the Debt Relief Order. Even with these legal solutions available, not everyone facing insolvency is eligible and bankruptcy is the only choice.

The hardest part of bankruptcy is that there is a massive social stigma attached to it. People see it as a failure financially. Older generations never saw credit dished out to such an extent, and will not have seen such high levels of debt that is around now, so they look down on those who go bankrupt.

Information about those who are made bankrupt is also made readily available to the public, making it impossible for people to hide. Up until very recently, bankruptcy cases would automatically appear in the local press. Those that are considered of ‘particular importance’ to people in a certain area still do. However not every case is published in local press these days. All national cases are still published in London Press, however, and the information about bankrupts is available freely online through the Insolvency Service. Bankruptcy also stays on your credit record for at least 6 years and longer in cases where long term clauses have been stipulated, making it almost impossible for the individual to obtain further credit.

Bankruptcy is definitely something that should be the last resort if somebody has financial trouble. There are many long term issues it can cause, and the social stigma is almost as bad as the financial problems!

Residents of Scotland seeking an alternative to bankruptcy are not eligible for IVA. The Scottish equivalent are Trust Deeds.