One of the major reasons to think about a bankruptcy is medical debt. When I was young, my mom was a stay at home mom and my dad worked in a factory. Trust me, my dad never made a lot of money and probably retired making less than $10.00 an hour. In a family of 9 children you would think that a family of 11 people would cost you a fortune in health insurance. But growing up in the back waters of the Mississippi River in the 70's and 80's health insurance was not the fortune it is now. I also don’t recall my parents ever worried about medical bills. Heck, I am not even sure I even remember hearing the words “co-pay” and “deductible.”

I often meet with people who are married and they are unsure if they can file a bankruptcy individually or if they must file a bankruptcy with their spouse. When you are married you have a choice. You can file individually or you can file jointly. Your choice will depend on your specific situation. The first thing your and your Minneapolis Bankruptcy Attorney will want to look at is you and your spouse’s credit report to see if you are both jointly liable on the debt.

In my last blog I wrote about the choices many clients have to face: whether filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy case is best for them. I discussed that there tends to be “chapter 7 income” and “chapter 13 income” and “chapter 7 debt” and “chapter 13 debt.” Now I would like to discuss the last of the three factors that should be considered in making the decision between chapter 7 and chapter 13 - what kind of assets does the client own, for just as there are income and debt distinctions to make, there are also “chapter 7 assets” and “chapter 13 assets.”

When you file bankruptcy, lawyers will tell you that the automatic stay goes into effect on the day you file a bankruptcy. But what is the automatic stay? Our Bankruptcy Attorneys in Minneapolis like to think of the automatic stay as a shield that goes up between you and all of your creditors. The automatic stay is a law built into the bankruptcy code to protect you from the actions of your creditors. It is a very powerful law. It protects you from creditors: collection calls or billing, starting or continuing lawsuits, garnishing wages or levying bank accounts, repossessions of vehicles and foreclosures of homes.

Are you contemplating filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Minneapolis? If so, then you want to know how much it costs. Let’s face it moneys tight and your debt is deep. After all you wouldn’t be even considering it if it wasn’t, right? Here’s a list of fees that you will encounter: