Peachtree City Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney

With the help of a capable bankruptcy attorney, your repayment plan will be drawn up and submitted to the court. You and your attorney will have to demonstrate how much money you will have left each month after paying necessary (reasonable) monthly expenses. Your plan must then indicate how you will distribute that remaining money among your creditors.

Tax payments and child support payments will always be the first priority. Unsecured debts, such as credit card debt and medical bills, will be paid also, but usually only in part. According to the plan worked out and accepted by the court, you may be able to pay off these debts for as little as 10 percent of their actual value.

Your payment plan must also:

• Be filed in good faith
• Pay creditors at least as much as they would have received in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy
  (Usually, this amount will equal the value of all of your nonexempt property)
• Use all of your disposable income for at least 3 years

Once your payment plan is submitted and accepted, you must begin making payments. In most cases, these payments are withdrawn directly from your wages.

Georgia Bankruptcy Exemptions

In Georgia, as in other states, there are exemptions that can be used when you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. These exemptions protect your home, your car, your retirement account, and certain other kinds of property from your creditors. It should be noted that there are federal, as well as state bankruptcy exemptions, but while in some states you can choose between using state and federal bankruptcy exemptions, in Georgia you must use state exemptions. Even in Georgia, however, you are entitled to use non-bankruptcy federal exemptions to protect your disability benefits and any federal or military retirement accounts you may have.

Common exemptions in Georgia are:

• Homestead
• Motor vehicle
• “Wild card” exemption, typically used to keep checking accounts
• Household goods exemption

There are a number of other exemptions possible in Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases in Georgia. Your bankruptcy attorney will carefully go over these with you and explain which are applicable in your case. In most circumstances, you will be able to protect work tools, child and spousal support payments, recovered funds from personal injury and wrongful death suits, insurance proceeds, unemployment, Social Security, disability, and public assistance payments.

Double Exemptions for Married Couples In Georgia

One advantage of filing a joint bankruptcy in Georgia is that you and your spouse can double your exemption amounts. This stipulation only applies to property that is jointly owned. It does not cover, for example, a car that is owned by only one of the spouses.

Procedural Matters of a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Once you have filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the court will appoint a trustee to oversee and control your debts and any property not covered by Georgia exemptions. The trustee will see to it that each of your creditors is paid as much as possible by comprehensively reviewing your assets and all paperwork involved. This trustee can challenge any aspect of your payments on an ongoing basis.

There will also be a meeting, known as a  §341 meeting, of your creditors which you will be required to attend. If any of the creditors have an objection to your repayment plan, it will hopefully be negotiated and resolved at this meeting; if not, a judge will make a final decision.

You will also have to attend a hearing before a bankruptcy judge to have your repayment plan confirmed. Assuming that you make your payments consistently and on time, and complete debt counseling, the dischargeable debts you owe at the end of your bankruptcy period will be discharged.