Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Bankruptcy Discharge - What is it and Why Does it Matter?

Filing bankruptcy can be both a rough time and an utter relief. Why? Well, filing is a big step towards getting your financial house in order and finally getting a discharge. What is a bankruptcy discharge and why is it important? I'm glad you asked.

Bankruptcy is the art of getting a second financial chance. It is the rare person these days who hasn't run up credit cards, taken excessive car loans or sucked the equity out of their home to the point it is now upside down from a financial perspective. Then there are those people who've had bad luck to the extent that they've been hit by medical bills or some other financial blast that has just wiped them out. For one and all, filing for bankruptcy can be the only legitimate way to deal with a financial mess.

There are many different types of bankruptcy one can file for. Chapter 7 is an effort to completely liquidate ones debts, but requires the loss of most assets as well. Chapter 13 is more about getting creditors off your back in exchange for a defined plan to repay them. Chapter 11 is the same as Chapter 13, but tailored more towards businesses. Regardless of the filing you make, each of these forms of bankruptcy ends with a discharge.

What is a bankruptcy discharge? It is an order from the court effectively ending your bankruptcy case. It also creates a line in the proverbial financial sand stating that creditors in the case can no longer pursue you for any past debts that were discharged. Any payment plans or non-discharged debts are, of course, excluded.

Why is the discharge so important? Well, it obviously cuts your creditors off at the knees. It also signifies a clear point where you can start moving forward with your life again. This is not to be understated. You've just gone through bankruptcy. This means your finances were a disaster.

You should have learned some lessons from the process. The first lesson is to figure out how to live within your means. The second is there will be a price to pay if you can't live up to your obligations. Finally, you are barred from filing for bankruptcy again for at least seven years. This means you need to keep your financial life in order because the court will not save you again for some time and you really don't want to have two bankruptcies on your record!

Gerard Simington writes for BankruptcyAttorneysandLawyers.com - your resource for California bankruptcy lawyers and attorneys.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gerard_Simington

1 comment:

  1. Filing bankruptcy is commonly a difficult issue. Where must one commence? What types of bankruptcy should a person apply for? How will the new bankruptcy rules impact a person's case? What is going to be the results of a bankruptcy processing? You have only one shot, therefore it's really crucial that you have it ideal at the very first try. This actually is why picking out the proper
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