Bankruptcy resources
Answers before the consultation.
Practical Utah bankruptcy information written for people trying to understand their options, not for lawyers trying to impress other lawyers.
Start with your problem
Bankruptcy information organized like a consumer thinks.
You do not need to know the Bankruptcy Code section. Start with what you are trying to protect, stop, or understand.
01
Start here
Understand the basic choices and what the process looks like.
Decision
Is bankruptcy right for me?
When bankruptcy tends to help, when it may not, and what facts usually change the answer.
Chapter 7
How Chapter 7 works
Eligibility, discharge, property, timing, fees, and the questions that matter before filing.
Chapter 13
How Chapter 13 works
Three-to-five-year plans, arrears, secured debt, property protection, and plan payments.
Process
What happens after I hire a lawyer?
Documents, filing, the automatic stay, trustee review, the 341 meeting, and discharge.
Process
What happens at the 341 meeting?
What the trustee asks, what to bring, and how to prepare without overthinking it.
Fees
Fees & payment plans
What the advertised Chapter 7 attorney fee covers, what is separate, and how payment timing differs by chapter.
02
Protect what matters
Cars, homes, equity, loans, and the difference between keeping property and discharging personal liability.
Vehicles
Can I keep my car?
Equity, exemptions, car loans, insurance, and the choices that matter in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.
Vehicles
Reaffirmation vs. retain-and-pay
Why reaffirmation is serious and why Utah ride-through law is narrower than “just keep paying.”
Home
Can I keep my house?
Home equity, exemptions, mortgage arrears, Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and foreclosure timing.
03
Urgent problems
When something is happening now, timing can become as important as the bankruptcy chapter.
Collections
Stopping a garnishment
How the automatic stay generally affects wage garnishment and why notice and timing matter.
Home
Stopping foreclosure
How Chapter 13 can stop a sale and cure arrears when the case is filed in time.
Vehicle
Car already repossessed?
What bankruptcy can and cannot do after the lender already has possession.
04
Debt questions
Different debts receive different treatment. Start with what you actually owe.
Debt
What debts can bankruptcy eliminate?
Common dischargeable debts, debts needing special analysis, and why liens are different from personal liability.