Bankruptcy guides,
in plain English

A petition preparer is a non-attorney you pay to put your information into the bankruptcy forms. Federal law limits them to that. Here is what they must do, what they are barred from doing, and how to spot one who is breaking the rules.

Filing pauses a foreclosure while the automatic stay lasts, and Chapter 13 gives a way to catch up on missed payments. This page covers what each chapter does for a mortgage, where the protection ends, and free help outside bankruptcy.

Yes, but not automatically. You have to prove undue hardship in a separate lawsuit inside your bankruptcy case. Here is what that means, how the Justice Department reviews federal loan cases, and where to read more.

Chapter 11 is the reorganization chapter, used mostly by businesses. This page explains how it works, the streamlined Subchapter V option, what filing costs in court fees, and what business debt means for an owner's own bankruptcy.

Chapter 13 trades a quick discharge for time: you keep your property and pay through a court-approved plan. Here is who can use it, how the payment is set, what it costs to file and what happens if the plan fails.

Chapter 7 is the liquidation chapter. This page covers who can use it, each step from counseling to discharge, the court fees, and the debts and liens it leaves in place.

Individuals who file bankruptcy must take one course before filing and another after. This page covers the timing, who is approved to give them, what they cost, the narrow exceptions and the certificates.

Generally yes, through the automatic stay, with exceptions such as child support. This page covers the federal limits on garnishment, what filing changes, what happens to a court judgment, and how student loan garnishment differs.

A discharge can end your personal liability for a car loan, but the lender's lien on the car survives. This page covers the choices you have in Chapter 7, how Chapter 13 handles the loan, and the deadlines.

Credit card balances and medical bills are unsecured debts, the kind bankruptcy may discharge. This page covers how each chapter treats them, the rule about spending shortly before filing, and options to try first.

The choice is often made by a few facts about your income, your property and what you are behind on. This guide walks through each one in the order they usually matter.

Bankruptcy does not mean losing everything. Exemptions decide what stays with you, and for many people the rules of their state matter more than the federal list.

Federal law sets an outer limit on how long a bankruptcy and other negative items can be reported. Here is what the limits are, when they start and what you can do about mistakes.

Support debts are the clearest case of a debt that survives bankruptcy. This guide covers what counts as support, what keeps happening after you file, and how past-due support is handled in each chapter.

Restitution is money a criminal court orders a person to pay as part of a sentence. Bankruptcy generally leaves it in place, and this guide explains the rules behind that.

Bankruptcy is built for debts, not punishments. This guide explains which fines and penalties stay with you after a case, how Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 differ, and what filing does to a criminal case.

Income taxes are not automatically off limits in bankruptcy, and they are not automatically erased either. The answer comes down to dates: when the return was due, when you filed it, and when the tax was assessed.

Federal student loans can be discharged, but not by filing alone. This guide explains the extra step the law requires, the Justice Department process for these cases, and what each chapter does in the meantime.

Not every private loan for school is protected by the student loan rule. This guide explains which private loans the rule covers, what happens to each kind in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, and what to look for in your loan papers.

Losing a lawsuit does not turn a debt into a different kind of debt. What matters is what the judgment was for, and whether the creditor used it to put a lien on your property.

The answer turns on whether the loan is secured by anything you own. This guide covers unsecured and secured personal loans in both chapters, liens on household goods, loan applications and co-signers.

A loan you took from your own workplace retirement plan follows its own rules in bankruptcy. This guide covers the loan, the payroll deductions, the account itself, and what happens if repayment stops.

If you ran a business or signed for its loans, those debts follow you into a personal bankruptcy. Here is how Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 treat them, and who stays on the hook afterward.

Your filing date splits association fees into before and after. What you owed before can be dealt with in the case. What comes due after depends on how long you still own the property.

Payday loans are normally handled like other unsecured debts. This guide covers both chapters, the check or bank debit you gave the lender, and loans taken out shortly before filing.

Back property tax raises separate questions about the debt and about any lien on the property. This guide explains which tax is a priority debt, what each chapter does, and what to check first.

The money you owe a landlord and your right to stay in the home are handled separately. This guide covers back rent in both chapters, when filing stops an eviction, and the forms for tenants who already have an eviction judgment.

Past-due bills for electricity, gas, water or similar services are treated like other unsecured debts, and bankruptcy law adds a specific protection against shutoff. This guide covers the old bill, the deposit a utility can ask for, and the bills that come after filing.

The loan paid for your child's education, but the debt is yours. Here is how bankruptcy treats it and what else can end or ease it.

Treasury offset is the reason a refund can shrink or vanish without anyone suing you. Here is how it works, the warning you are owed, and how to respond.

Yes, for a defaulted federal student loan. This guide covers how much can be taken, the notice and hearing you are entitled to, and what filing bankruptcy does to a garnishment.

Income-driven repayment ties a federal student loan payment to what you earn. The list of plans has changed recently, so this guide gives the current picture and then explains how a plan counts in a bankruptcy discharge case.

Rehabilitation is one of the main ways to bring a federal student loan out of default. This guide covers what you have to do, what you get back, how it compares with consolidation, and what it does not change in bankruptcy.

Federal student loans come with options that do not involve a court. Here is what each one does, what it costs, and how using them affects a later bankruptcy case.

Chapter 13 can pause collection and put a student loan inside a court-supervised plan. It does not make the loan go away. This guide separates the relief you get during the plan from what is left at the end.

Default is the point where a federal student loan stops behaving like ordinary debt. Here is when it starts, what the government can do, and how people get out.

Bankruptcy law borrows a definition from the tax code to decide which private student loans get special protection. Here is that definition, piece by piece.

If a disability keeps you from working, there is a way to cancel federal student loans without going to court. It is not the same thing as the disability presumption used in bankruptcy cases.

A federal discharge based on what your school did, not on what you can afford. Here is who can apply, what an application needs, which rules are on hold, and how it sits beside bankruptcy.

If you work for a government body or a nonprofit, there may be a way out of federal student debt that never goes near a courtroom.

Filing has several separate costs: court fees, the required courses and, if you hire one, a lawyer. Here is what is fixed, what varies and what help exists if you cannot pay.

Bankruptcy deadlines are firm, but the rules let a court extend many of them. This guide covers the general rule, the deadlines it comes up for most, how days are counted, and the limits on what a court can do.

There is no single national answer. The federal rule leaves it to each bankruptcy court, so this guide shows what the rule says and how to find out what your court allows.

You can, and it is called filing pro se. Here is what you take on, who is allowed to help you, and the cases where filing alone is hardest.

You are allowed to. This guide sets out what Chapter 13 adds on top of the forms: a plan a judge must approve, payments that start early, and years of follow-through before any discharge.

Filed forms can be corrected. This guide explains the rule that allows it, the notice that goes with it, the court fee that may apply, and the kinds of problems a corrected page does not settle.

If the cost of a lawyer is the reason you are thinking about filing alone, check these sources first. Here is who offers help, who qualifies, and how to ask so that you get an answer.

Chapter 7 sells nonexempt property and is usually over in months; Chapter 13 keeps your property under a repayment plan. A side-by-side with official sources.