{"id":1799,"date":"2011-02-16T14:00:54","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T19:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/?p=1799"},"modified":"2018-11-27T07:02:44","modified_gmt":"2018-11-27T07:02:44","slug":"chapter-seven-bankruptcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/chapter-seven-bankruptcy\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 7 bankruptcy and the means test:  What does it mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chapter seven bankruptcy (or &#8220;straight liquidation&#8221;) is the most common form of bankruptcy filing in New York and around the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to the &#8220;means test,&#8221; however, it&#8217;s slightly less frequently used than it used to be.\u00a0 That&#8217;s because the means test for Chapter 7 bankruptcy was essentially put in place by the credit industry in the 2005 bankruptcy law to be a speed bump intended to reduce the ability of people to seek bankruptcy protection.<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of the means test is to figure out if you could pay a sufficient amount back to your unsecured creditors after expenses, exemptions, etc. have been subtracted out.\u00a0 If the calculations show that you would be able to do so, then you &#8220;fail&#8221; the means test and are not eligible to file for Chapter 7.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the means test is not really just a matter of doing some simple calculations.\u00a0 The key, just like with tax accounting, is figuring out what gets counted and how it gets characterized.\u00a0 And that&#8217;s where a good <a href=\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/bankruptcy-services\/new-york-chapter-7-bankruptcy-attorney\/\">New York Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney<\/a> comes in handy.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Chapter 13 vs. Chapter 7<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It is often considered more advantageous to a debtor to be able to file for <a href=\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/brooklyn-bankruptcy-law-firm\/new-york-chapter-7-bankruptcy-attorney\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chapter 7<\/a> rather than <a href=\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/brooklyn-bankruptcy-law-firm\/chapter-13-bankruptcy-attorneys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chapter 13<\/a> because typically within several months you&#8217;re done with your case, your debt has been wiped clean and you&#8217;re moving forward with your life.\u00a0 Chapter 13, meanwhile, has its strategic advantages as well depending on your situation.\u00a0 But it does involve a 3 to 5 year repayment plan which is frequently less appealing than the shorter time frame of a Chapter 7.<\/p>\n<p>If you have questions about Chapter seven bankruptcy, Chapter 13 or questions about the means test in for <a href=\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/brooklyn-bankruptcy-law-firm\/new-york-chapter-7-bankruptcy-attorney\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney Brooklyn NY<\/a>, please feel free to <a href=\"contact\/\">contact<\/a> Bruce Weiner, an experienced New York bankruptcy attorney in Brooklyn, for a free initial consultation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chapter seven bankruptcy (or &#8220;straight liquidation&#8221;) is the most common form of bankruptcy filing in New York and around the U.S. Thanks to the &#8220;means test,&#8221; however, it&#8217;s slightly less frequently used than it used to be.\u00a0 That&#8217;s because the means test for Chapter 7 bankruptcy was essentially put in place by the credit industry &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/chapter-seven-bankruptcy\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Chapter 7 bankruptcy and the means test:  What does it mean?<\/span> Read More \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":""},"categories":[16,26,22,7,33],"tags":[2,21,29,30,32,34,51,52,35],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chapter 7 bankruptcy and the means test: What does it mean?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chapter 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