Our approach is to have a personal meeting with each client and prepare a financial analysis for the client, based on the information provided.  We do this to determine whether the client qualifies for bankruptcy and if so, which chapter will best suit the client.  For individuals, the bankruptcy chapter can be a chapter 7 or chapter 13, and in certain rare cases, a chapter 11.   

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is referred to as a straight bankruptcy or liquidation.  This means that the individual does not have the resources to pay his unsecured creditors.  In this instance, the client will receive a discharge, which means all of his unsecured be discharged.  If the client has any nonexempt assets available for the chapter 7 trustee to liquidate or sell, those assets will be liquidated or sold and the proceeds of the sale will be used to pay the unsecured creditors. In most cases, the client does not have any nonexempt assets for the benefit of her unsecured creditors.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy is commonly known as a wage earner plan.  In this instance, the client is attempting to reorganize his finances to PAY a portion of his income to a chapter 13 trustee to pay some of his creditors back.  Under the most common instances, the client is behind on his house mortgage or car note and needs help from the court to allow him to keep his property and become current on the arrearages.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy is usually filed by business entities seeking to reorganize their financial affairs and stay in business. On rare occasions, individuals owing more than $419,275 in unsecured debt and more than $1,257,850 in secured debt will file a chapter 11 bankruptcy.

There are other chapters of bankruptcy, but the Milledge Law Firm only files chapters 7, 13, and 11 for its clients.