Filing for bankruptcy brings a lot of relief to thousands of Minnesotans each year. When a person files a personal chapter 7 bankruptcy case, they are afforded a great deal of protection from their creditors and relief from their debts, most of which are completely wiped out forever when they receive their discharge. Up until when a person files a bankruptcy case, they often continue to attempt to pay their creditors as much as they can. Often, it is only when a person realizes that it is futile to continue to pay their debts, and simultaneously afford to pay their other necessary bills, that a person decides to file bankruptcy and stops paying their creditors.  

An individual who files a chapter 13 or chapter 7 personal bankruptcy case is afforded a great deal of relief from their debts. In exchange for this huge debt relief, a person who files for bankruptcy (aka the “debtor”), is required to make payments to creditors in a chapter 13 repayment plan and, in some circumstances, is required to surrender property to pay creditors in a chapter 7 case.