A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy will eliminate most all unsecured debts (credit cards, loans) but not secured debts such as your car or home; child support/alimony, payroll taxes, student loans, recent or unfiled income taxes, etc.. To keep your car and home, payments must kept current. In a Chapter 13 case you pay all or only a portion of your debts, depending on how much disposable income you have each month and how much nonexempt property you have.
Spousal Support
In a Chapter 13 case you pay back child and spousal support in full, without further interest, in your payment plan. In a Chapter 7 case, child and spousal support is not dischargeable. Although you can postpone the payments while you are in Bankruptcy, you eventually will have to pay them off.
Debtors must list all property and debts in their bankruptcy schedules. If a debt is not listed, it is possible the debt will not be discharged. (Lists of the documents [including schedules] that debtors must file are set out on Form B200 (pdf), one of the Director's Procedural Forms.) The judge can also deny the discharge of all debts if a debtor does something dishonest in connection with the bankruptcy case, such as destroying or hiding property, falsifying records, or lying. Individual bankruptcy cases are randomly audited to determine the accuracy, truthfulness, and completeness of the information that the debtor is required to provide. Please be aware that bankruptcy fraud is a crime.
Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney Susan J. Salehi Bankruptcy Lawyer for Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, Kern County, Los Angeles County Chapter 7 and Chapter 13
Foreclosure
(Reuters) - Banks seized more than a million U.S. homes in one year for the first time last year, despite a slowdown in the last few months as questions around foreclosure processing arose, a leading firm said on Thursday.