Remind me what he could try and do in bankruptcy? I thought there was one version of it that he would have a harder time achieving due to the amount of income he has, but I can't remember.
With chapter 7,you discharge your debts. They just go away. That's hard to qualify for.
Chapter 13 is a debt repayment plan. You pay X per month for 5 years, after which any remaining amount is discharged.
Basically, bankruptcy is saying you have more debt then income and at the current rate you'll never be able to pay it back. So you just discharge your debts. They are no longer yours, no one can come after you for them.
Let me see if I can find some of the stuff the lawyer had is fill out
EDIT:
@actually The first step in bankruptcy is the 'means test'. We didn't pass it, guarantee DSP won't pass it. It's a set of questions that you answer the determines if you can file Chapter 7.
Here's a link to NOLO about it including the actual forms.
There's form 122A-2 which is a simple "Here's my income" overview, then there's form 122A-1 which lets you go into more detail - some high earners can qualify for Ch 7 but only under certain situations, like medical bills.
Another advantage of filing bankruptcy is when you do it you are essentially hitting the global pause button. All foreclosures, repossessions, garnishments, etc are stopped. You don't pay your mortgage, car payments, cc payments, etc until after the proceedings are over - some people use it as a way of buying time.
