When most people think of Bankruptcy, they are thinking of what is called a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

A Chapter 7 is what is known as a "straight" bankruptcy or a "liquidation" type bankruptcy. The Court forgives the individual his or her debts and liquidates, or takes, any assets he or she has that are not exempt.

"Exempt" means property protected by law, which may not be taken from the debtor. In Florida the Court cannot take a debtor's home because the equity in the home is protected by the Florida Constitution.

Furthermore, the following property is also exempt: interests in IRS approved retirement or pension plans (i.e.: IRA's, 401K's, pensions, etc.), interests in insurance policies, money in the bank that is from your wages, government benefits (veterans benefits, entitlements, social security, Medicaid, Medicare, SSI, etc.), $1000.00 worth of equity in any automobile, $1000.00 worth of personal property, and many other exemptions, which are too numerous to mention here. (Call for an explanation regarding your particular case)

You are allowed to keep your secured debt if you wish. This usually means your home, car and any number of other secured purchases such as appliances, jewelry, etc. These debts are allowed to "pass through" bankruptcy without being affected.

However, if you don't want to keep secured debt, you can surrender the property and any debt associated with that surrender, such as a deficiency balance, or extra charges for returning the property in less than perfect condition, is forgiven completely.

You also can keep a credit card or two and not have bankruptcy apply to those debts. This is called "reaffirmation", because you are reaffirming the debt. In other words, by reaffirming a debt, you are saying to the creditor, in effect, "I want to keep this debt and I understand that by keeping it I will be responsible for paying it and my bankruptcy will give me no protection from it."

Most clients usually keep at least one credit card, if they can. Usually it is the one with the lowest balance. This is a very good idea, since it is almost impossible to rent a car, or book airline tickets without one, and is important to have in case of an emergency.

Chapter 7 allows most individuals to eliminate all of their unsecured credit card debt and medical bills and to keep all of their belongings. Occasionally, they may lose some property but this is usually very minimal. (Call about your particular situation)

A Chapter 7 can be prepared within a few weeks and can be concluded quickly and effectively.