FAQs

It depends on how much your car is worth. If your car is paid off, Utah law gives you an exemption of $3,000 in the value of the car. If you owe money on your car, then it is up to your lender. However, most lenders will allow you to keep your car if you are current on the payments and agree to keep making the payments.

Yes, sort of. You must have some type of income from a legitimate source (but it doesn’t have to be from employment). For example, you can have income from wages, self employment, Social Security, pension or retirement, state assistance, child support and alimony, etc.

No. You do not have to have any income history to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. However, you do have to have income at the time you file Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Yes.

No. There is no minimum amount of debt to file a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, and for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, there is no maximum amount of debt. For a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, your total debt can’t exceed $1,081,400.00.

Read more about filing for bankruptcy and credit card debt in our blog.

No. The court filing fee and my attorney fee is the same whether you file individually or with your spouse. However, in order to file with your spouse, you must be legally married.

Yes.

Read more about what a business needs to know before they file for bankruptcy in our informative blog post.

No. However, if your spouse does not file, and debts your spouse owes will not be erased. Furthermore, if you have medical debts that you got while you were married, your spouse is also liable for that debt, even if your spouse’s name is not on the debt.

In most cases, no. The amount you must pay back to creditors is based on what you can afford (not what you owe), and the value of your assets.

No. You must disclose any payments to relatives in the year before you file your bankruptcy case, and the Bankruptcy Court can force your relative to pay the money back, depending on the amount paid.

Yes (see below). However, you will probably still be able to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

The maximum income is based on your family size and it is adjusted periodically. For one person, the maximum gross income is $67,265 per year, and it increases approximately $9,000 for each additional family member. You can find the exact income here:

https://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20210515/bci_data/median_income_table.htm

If your income exceeds the maximum income, you may still be able to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy if you have special circumstances. For example, if you have a large amount of debt related to a business or investments, or if you have a high child support or alimony payment.

If you file a Ch. 7 bankruptcy, you may have to turn over some or all of your tax refund. If you file a Ch 13 bankruptcy, for the first three years, you are allowed to keep $1,000 from your tax refund each year. You will have to turn over the remaining portion of your tax refund for the first three years.

Read more about how a Chapter 7 bankruptcy will affect your tax refund on our blog.