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Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a "straight bankruptcy" or "liquidation
bankruptcy." It is the most common chapter; approximately two-thirds of
all the bankruptcies filed around the country each year are Chapter 7s.
In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding, the debtor is seeking a
discharge, which is a document mailed to the debtor by the Clerk of the
Bankruptcy Court toward the end of the case. The discharge is the
document which essentially states that the debtor is no longer legally
responsible for repaying his or her creditors. There are a few "prices"
one pays for the privilege of receiving a Chapter 7 discharge. There
are three primary components to every Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding:
assets, liabilities, and income.
If you have any questions about bankruptcy, call us at 610-251-2500.
Determination Of Assets In A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.
In every Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding, a judge and a trustee are
assigned. In the majority of Chapter 7 cases, the debtor never sees his
or her judge, but does meet his or her trustee. It is helpful to look
at the Chapter 7 trustee as an independent contractor for the federal
government; the government wants experienced professionals to help it
do its job, but does not want to pay in-house salaries, so it contracts
with local attorneys and accountants to provide the needed services.
The trustee's primary responsibility is to review the bankruptcy
petition, schedules, and statement of financial affairs, examine the
debtor by asking some questions at a meeting of creditors approximately
five weeks into the case, and determine whether the debtor owns any
assets that ought to be liquidated or sold in order to generate money
to pay creditors on their claims, at least in part. Accordingly, one of
the prices a debtor pays for the privilege of receiving a Chapter 7
discharge is that his or her assets are subjected to scrutiny by the
bankruptcy trustee and potentially liquidated for the benefit of his or
her creditors.
Debtor Assets Not Worthy Of Liquidation.
In approximately ninety-five percent of the Chapter 7 cases filed
around the United States each year, the trustee comes to the conclusion
that the debtor has no assets worthy of liquidation, because most
debtors' assets fall into four basic categories that make those assets relatively unattractive.
Administration Of Assets - To Liquidate, Or Not To Liquidate?
The bankruptcy trustee must determine whether administration of
assets is necessary. If the debtor owns real estate, the trustee might
send an agent to the property to evaluate it. If the trustee believes
the property has sufficient equity, the trustee will put the property
on the market. If the debtor is operating a business, whether it is a
sole proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, or
partnership, the trustee may want to review the company's books and
records, bank statements, canceled checks, and/or tax returns. If the
debtor is in the process of suing someone, the trustee might want to
review the litigation pleadings in order to assure himself or herself
that the suit has or does not have value to creditors. If the debtor
has too much money in the wrong type of pension plan, the trustee may
want to review the pension instruments.
Liquidation Of Assets.
In approximately five percent of the Chapter 7 cases filed in the
United States each year, the trustee does in fact liquidate one or more
of the debtor's assets. The trustee's job in such cases is to take
possession of the asset, market it for sale, locate a buyer, negotiate
terms, seek bankruptcy court authority to sell the asset in the form of
a Court order, close the transaction and bring in dollars.
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee Compensation.
Where the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee liquidates one or more of the
debtor's assets, the trustee earns compensation of approximately five
percent of the proceeds generated by his or her liquidation efforts. In
addition to the trustee's approximately five percent fee, the trustee
often employs attorneys, accountants, real estate agents, consultants,
appraisers, auctioneers, and other professionals to help him or her
carry out his or her duties, and such professionals are paid in full
before any funds are made available to creditors of the bankruptcy
estate. As one might expect, the Chapter 7 trustee has an economic
incentive to generate as much money as possible from liquidation of the
bankruptcy estate's assets. But keep in mind, in the vast majority of
Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, it is obvious to the bankruptcy trustee
that the estate is devoid of administrable assets; it is only in
approximately five percent of the cases that assets are taken from the
debtor by the trustee and liquidated.
Discharge Of Liability.
That is of course the reason why one files Chapter 7--to receive the
piece of paper from the bankruptcy court that states that the debtor is
no longer legally obligated to repay his or her creditors. But there
are exceptions.
Accordingly, one of the prices a debtor pays for the privilege of
receiving a Chapter 7 discharge is that certain types of obligations
cannot or might not be discharged.
Income And Expenses.
One of the primary changes made by Congress and the President when
they enacted the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention And Consumer Protection
Act of 2005 is the implementation of a "means test." The means test
focuses on the combined gross income of all members of the marital
community, regardless of whether only one or both members of the
marital community file bankruptcy. Income is determined based on an
average over the past six months, regardless of whether the average
income over the past six months reflects future earning ability.
Subtracted from income are various household expenses, some based on
objective standards created by the Internal Revenue Service, and some
based on the debtor's actual spending history. If the net disposable
income is greater than the state's median level of income for a family
of the debtor's size living within the debtor's geographic region, the
presumption exists that the debtor is ineligible for Chapter 7 relief.
If the debtor's net disposable income is below the state's median
level of income for a family of the debtor's size living within the
debtor's geographic region, but there is still sufficient income to
repay a portion of the debtor's debt if forced to do so in a Chapter 13
proceeding, the debtor may nonetheless be ineligible for Chapter 7
relief. Under ten percent of the debtors that previously could have
filed Chapter 7 successfully are being forced to either file Chapter 13
instead, or not file bankruptcy at all.
The scrutinization of the debtor's income and expenses in order to
determine whether giving the debtor a Chapter 7 discharge constitutes a
"substantial abuse" of the bankruptcy laws is another price one pays
for the privilege of receiving a Chapter 7 discharge.
If you would like more information, or would like to discuss your
situation with a Pennsylvania Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney, please contact Richard Lipow today. You can call us at 610-251-2500
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