Filing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy? Contact a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer, an Attorney Specializing in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Today.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy protection is designed for financially distressed individual debtors with regular income, wanting to pay off their debts but currently unable to do so. Chapter 13 filing protects debtors from creditors, while allowing them to propose a repayment plan for paying off their debts over an extended time -usually under three years but in some cases all the way up to five years. A chapter 13 bankruptcy is commonly known as "wage-earner bankruptcy."

Debt relief under Chapter 13 bankruptcy code is available to any individual (including those that are self-employed, or operating an unincorporated business) as long as that individual's unsecured debts are less than $269,250 and his secured debts are below $807,750. A corporation or a partnership cannot be accorded chapter 13 bankruptcy protection.

As soon as you file your chapter 13 petition (along with schedules of your assets and liabilities, a schedule of your current income and expenses, a schedule of executory contracts and unexpired leases, as well as an accurate statement of your financial affairs) with the bankruptcy court serving the area where you reside, all collection actions (lawsuits, wage garnishment, debt-collector telephone calls, or even an imminent foreclosure of the mortgage on your principal residence) by your creditors automatically stays. You are also required to file a repayment plan (if not filed with the petition) within fifteen days thereafter -unless an extension is granted a bankruptcy court judge. You would need the following details -at the very least -to file your petition for chapter 13 bankruptcy protection:

A list of all your creditors and the amounts you owe them,
Your income sources, amounts, and the frequency of the same,
A list of all of your properties, and
A detailed statement documenting all your monthly expenses.

Upon the filing of the petition, an impartial trustee is appointed to administer your case, the administrator serves as your disbursing agent -periodically collecting payments from you and distributing the same to your creditors. You are required to send regular (usually biweekly or monthly) payments to the court appointed trustee -as stipulated in your court approved repayment plan.

It is generally a good idea to have an experienced bankruptcy attorney guide you, and represent you at every step of the way -from the time of your mandatory meeting with creditors, meeting with the court appointed trustee, proposing a workable repayment plan, getting the bankruptcy court judge to approve your suggested repayment plan, getting the creditors to agree to the plan, getting the court to give you up to three-years (or up to five years in certain cases) to repay your debt, helping you exercise your right to convert the case to a liquidation case under chapter 7 -if appropriate, exploring whether you would qualify for the Chapter 13 Hardship Discharge, and helping you all the way through the final step of the Chapter 13 Discharge. Considering that the chapter 13 bankruptcy law is quite complex, it may be in your interest to consult an experienced and a competent bankruptcy lawyer right from the very beginning.

We are working on further augmenting this document with links to bankruptcy defense lawyers, bankruptcy law related legal professionals, and bankruptcy law firms. You are, of course, welcome to suggest we add an URL link to your favorite bankruptcy lawyer's website! Please Email us if you would like to suggest a helpful resource link for this page.

Visit our Bankruptcy Law Related Articles and our Bankruptcy Defense Law News section for the latest information. Consider consulting with a debt management consultant or a financial planner if you have personal assets that you need to protect. We also suggest visiting personal money management resource center for information on money matters such as achieving your financial security goals through careful money management, debt consolidation loans, monitoring and managing your 401(k) retirement accounts, improving your FICO credit scores, consumer loan financing, preventing and reporting identity theft, correcting errors in your credit report, and for many informational articles on personal money management.