Chapter 13
Chapter 13, a long climb taken in stages
For people with income who are behind on a house or car, or who earn too much for Chapter 7.
Instead of clearing debts at once, you pay a trustee one amount each month for three to five years. Missed mortgage and car payments are spread across the plan, and creditors are held back for as long as it runs.
A plan can go wrong when life changes, which is why plan changes are in the fee and not an extra: we ask the court to adjust, and keep adjusting.
The flat fee covers
Building the plan around your real budget
Confirmation hearing, with you
Emergency filings when a sale date is close
Plan adjustments while the case runs
The plan, in stages
What a three-to-five-year plan does, step by step
A plan is a budget the court holds you and your creditors to. These are the stages it goes through, in order.
- 01
Step 1: The petition
We file, and creditors must stop collecting while the plan is built. A missed house or car payment is listed so it can be caught up.
- 02
Step 2: The plan
One monthly payment, sized to your real budget, goes to the trustee. The trustee pays your creditors from it.
- 03
Step 3: Confirmation
A judge approves the plan at a short hearing, usually about two months in. A lawyer is with you.
- 04
Step 4: The plan years
Three to five of them. If your pay changes, we ask the court to change the plan rather than let it fail.
- 05
Step 5: The last payment
When the plan is complete, most debt that is still unpaid and eligible is discharged, and the house and car are yours free of the arrears.
Asked about Chapter 13 before filing
01What happens if a plan payment is late?
Call us the same day. One missed payment can usually be made up or the plan reworked. Several in a row can end the case.
02When is the fee due?
A first part before we file, the rest through the plan payments, as the court allows. The exact schedule is in your fee agreement.
03Can the plan end early?
Sometimes. It depends on what your unsecured creditors are owed under the plan. We can run the figures whenever you ask.
See what a plan would ask each month
We’ll sketch one on the first video call, free, from the papers you have.