Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Are you feeling overwhelmed by accumulating debts? Are you falling further and further behind in your payments on your home? Do you owe back payments on your car loan or your mortgage and don’t see any possible solution to making-up those payments? Could you pay back all your debts if you just had more time?

If this situation describes you, then you need to speak to an experienced North Shore and Boston area bankruptcy lawyer at Evans & Evans. We specialize in bankruptcy and obtaining maximum debt relief for our clients. One possible answer for you, to get out of debt and still keep your possessions, is to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

What is Chapter 13 bankruptcy?

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a reorganization of your debt, structured as a payment plan. There are many different reasons why a Chapter 13 bankruptcy might be your best bet. It’s important that we sit and analyze your options before suggesting a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. We need to look at the whole situation: the type of debt, income and your goals in bankruptcy, in order to determine whether a Chapter 13 would be the right solution for you.

Chapter 13 cases last from 3-5 years, depending on the type of debt and income. It’s very important that we review your budget carefully and propose something that you can live with for the period of time that you are in bankruptcy. Fortunately, our extensive experience in the Chapter 13 area allows us to be familiar with the budgeting process and, that way, we can come up with a plan that will be acceptable to both you and the court.

Chapter 13 repayment plan

After helping you prepare a budget, you and your bankruptcy attorney at Evans & Evans will work together to create a Chapter 13 repayment plan. Your bankruptcy lawyer will help you determine what must be included in your repayment plan and work to create a budget that balances your debt and your income. Our goal is always to keep your payments under the plan as low as is permitted by the Bankruptcy Code and the Court in order to maximize the benefit you receive through your Chapter 13 case.

Some debt must be paid in full through your Chapter 13 Plan. These debts – called priority debts – include alimony, child support, employee wages, and certain taxes. As for your other debts, your repayment plan will need to address your secured debts, which are debts for tangible items, such as your home or your car. Finally, the repayment plan will need to show how your remaining disposable income, after taking care of the priority and secured debt, will be spent to pay down your unsecured debt for items like credit cards, medical bills, and the like. In many Chapter 13 cases, the Plan provides for minimal payments towards the unsecured debts with the majority of your payments being allocated to the priority and secured debt, so that the entirety of the unsecured debt is discharged much in the same way as happens in a Chapter 7 case.

Deciding to File Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

The most common reason that people choose Chapter 13 bankruptcy is to save their home from foreclosure or to save a car from repossession. Although both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 will initially stop foreclosure activities on your home, Chapter 13 allows you to create a repayment plan so that you’re able to continue to pursue or initiate a loan modification or catch up on whatever money or payments you owe the mortgage company. That repayment plan, developed by you and your bankruptcy attorney, can last from three to five years.

Schedule your free case evaluation.

It’s time you reclaim your financial future. Call the Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys at Evans & Evans today. Our bankruptcy attorneys handle personal and business bankruptcy matters and serve the Greater Boston and Boston’s North Shore region including the communities of Amesbury, Andover, Beverly, Boxford, Hamilton, Haverhill, North Andover, North Reading, Gloucester, Ipswitch, Manchester, Marblehead, Middleton, Newburyport, Salem, Topsfield, Wenham, Middlesex County and Essex County, Massachusetts.