No matter how tight money is, taking care of your children is always a priority. If you have found yourself with more debt than you can handle and are also responsible for child support, you may be wondering what filing for bankruptcy will mean for your situation. Will child support payments be included in bankruptcy? Or will they be reduced? I can help you solve all these important questions. One thing to keep in mind is that child support cannot be discharged through any type of bankruptcy.

Chapter 7

While filing any chapter of bankruptcy will start the automatic stay and then you can stop making unsecured debt payments, you’ll still need to stay current on your payments (as well as secured debt payments, if you want to keep your property). ) Bankruptcy of any kind will not stop your child support and will not affect any court proceeding to establish or modify your support. All priority debts, like child support, must be paid in full, on time each month, and if you don’t make the payments, you could be sued. Filing for Chapter 7 could result in some of your non-exempt property being taken and sold to pay off creditors, but we’ll use the many exemptions available to protect as much of your assets as possible. If the court takes some of your property, the trustee will decide which creditors will get paid and how much. Child support is usually the top priority.

Chapter 13

One of the benefits of choosing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is that you can include any child support arrears in your payment plan as a priority debt. We will design your plan to include your full child support payments with any back payments spread out over your 3-5 year plan. Making your child support payments can reduce the total debt you’ll pay in a Chapter 13. Priority debts are paid first, and any remaining disposable income goes toward other, lower-priority or unsecured debts. In some cases, when there is little disposable income left, unsecured debts are not paid at all before they are discharged.

It is imperative that you stay current with your Chapter 13 payment plan; otherwise, your creditors could apply for an “automatic stay waiver.” If the court approves it, you will need to start making full payments on the debt right away. You will need to stay current on child support payments until the end of the debt period, or your bankruptcy discharge could be delayed.

make a plan

Of course, you want to make sure your children are well provided for and willing to make the necessary sacrifices to make that happen. If you need to file for bankruptcy, the court will look at your overall financial situation, which could result in a change in your child support payments. You can also free up enough room in your budget through bankruptcy discharge to make your payments easier to manage. No matter what your situation is, we can work together to make a plan that works for you.