You should consider filing bankruptcy when you cannot pay your bills or when a particular crisis, such as an illness, accident or loss of employment makes the future payment of your bills very unlikely. Also, if a judgment is handed down against you, a bankruptcy may be used to stop the creditor from attaching your assets or wages.

The bankruptcy code requires you to disclose all of your assets and all debt. So you must list all your outstanding bills. All major credit card companies subscribe to services that notify them of bankruptcy filings, even if they are not listed on the petition. Once the credit card companies are informed of your bankruptcy they will close your accounts.

Wage deductions for on-going child or family support ordered by a court are not garnishments and will continue to be deducted from your pay.

Also, omitting a credit card company from your schedules, because you want to retain the use of the card, does not assure continued access to the card: most major credit card issuers use a national data base to determine who has filed bankruptcy, independently of the court's notice to them of bankruptcy filings. They routinely cancel cards of everyone who has filed bankruptcy, whether or not a balance is owed. You can't assure that your creditors won't find out about your bankruptcy by not listing a debt.

Yes, if someone has co-signed a loan with you and you file for bankruptcy, the co-signer may have to pay your debt. The bankruptcy automatic stay does not apply to the co-signer.

Those debts which are secured will be discharged, however, expect the creditor to take the necessary legal steps to take back the property. In most cases if the debtor's equity interest in the property is exempt, the debtor may retain the property by redemption or reaffirmation.

No. In Michigan, your spouse is not required to file with you. However, if your spouse does not file with you, joint debts are eliminated only as to the filing debtor, so creditors could still pursue your spouse to collect joint obligations. If all or most of the debts are in your name only, your spouse may not have to file. Creditors usually cannot pursue a non-filing spouse, unless he or she is legally a co-debtor on the debt. Additionally, the bankruptcy should not be reflected on the non-filing spouse's credit report. At Macomb Legal services our experienced bankruptcy attorney can advise you about whether or not your spouse should file.

Secured debt is a debt claim that is secured by a lien of some type in your property, either by your agreement or involuntarily such as with a court judgment or taxes. Unsecured debt is not tied to any type of property. Most credit card debts are unsecured. If you wish to keep property which secures a debt you must enter into a reaffirmation agreement with the creditor.

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy can be filed every 8 years from a previous chapter 7 filing or 6 years from a prior chapter 13 filing. Chapter 13 can be filed 4 years from a prior Chapter 7 filing or 2 years from a prior Chapter 13 filing. Filing bankruptcy can adversely affect your ability to obtain future credit, rent housing and even negatively impact a job application, so any decision to file must be carefully considered.

Yes. By law, all actions against a you must cease immediately upon filing the documents with the bankruptcy court. Generally, most creditors will stop calling you once you advise them you have retained this office to represent you in a bankruptcy proceeding.

In most bankruptcy cases, you only have to go to a proceeding called the "meeting of creditors" to meet with the bankruptcy trustee and any creditor who chooses to come. Most of the time, this meeting will be a short and simple procedure where you are asked a few questions about your bankruptcy forms and your financial situation.

The filing of a bankruptcy petition automatically stays (stops) most actions, including collections, against the debtor or the debtor's property. It is called "automatic" because the stay begins automatically at the time the bankruptcy case is filed with the Clerk's Office. Once the stay is in place, creditors are prohibited from taking certain actions against a debtor.

For a typical chapter 7 case, the discharge of your debts usually takes approximately 3-4 months. A chapter 13 takes anywhere from 3-5 years.

Yes. It is very important that all assets are listed. Knowingly and fraudulently concealing your assets from the bankruptcy court is a felony and the court has the power to fine you and deny you a discharge. Remember that most bankruptcy cases are considered "no asset" cases since state or federal exemptions protect all of their property.

Under the new bankruptcy law, filers whose incomes are higher than the median income for a family of their size in their state may not be allowed to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy if their disposable income, after subtracting certain allowed expenses and required debt payments, would allow them to pay back some portion of the unsecured debt over a five-year repayment period. For more information on this see: The Means Test in the menu above.

However, Chapter 13 might be a better choice, depending on your situation. For example, if you are behind on your mortgage and want to keep your house, you can include your missed payments in your Chapter 13 plan and repay them over time. In Chapter 7, you would have to make up the whole past due amount right away -- and you might lose your house, if your equity exceeds the exemption amount available to you.

While it is possible to file a bankruptcy case pro se, that is without the assistance of an attorney, it may be difficult to do so successfully. It is recommended that a person considering bankruptcy consult with a competent attorney prior to filing a case. We offer free initial consultations. You may schedule a free consultation by calling (586) 263-740.

No. Federal law (U.S.C. Sec. 525) prohibits any employer from discriminating against you because you filed bankruptcy.