Bankruptcy.lawBankruptcy.law

§ Consumer bankruptcy · Chapters 7 and 13

See your debt relief options — for your state and your court

Tell Arthur what's happening. He'll explain how the law actually treats it, which options are commonly explored, and what applies in your county — then put it together as a Roadmap you can take to a lawyer.

FreeNo account neededWe never sell your information — one local firm, and only if you ask

Bankruptcy.law AI Navigator™

Arthur · Online

Arthur

I'm Arthur. Tell me what's going on — a garnishment, a court date, a number you can't make — and I'll explain how the law actually treats it, and what it looks like where you live.

No judgment here. Your details are never sold, and nothing goes to a lawyer unless you ask me to arrange it. I'm AI, not your lawyer: this is legal information, not legal advice.

Or build your full Roadmap

General legal information, not legal advice. Not a law firm.

2,826 counties mapped to their filing division across 46 states, each recorded with the court's own citation · 19,000+ verbatim official-source documents · read the statutes

What your Roadmap gives you

Not a verdict, and not a sales pitch. A written starting point you can take to a lawyer — or use to decide whether you need one yet.

Pathways that may fit
Which chapters are commonly explored in situations like yours — and, just as often, when bankruptcy may not be the thing that solves your problem.
Your local legal framework
The district and division your case would be filed in, resolved from your county — not just your state.
Things to tell your lawyer
The facts in your answers that a bankruptcy attorney will want to know about early, flagged before your first call.
Documents to gather
A checklist built from your situation, so the first meeting isn't spent listing paperwork.
Questions to ask
Specific questions for a bankruptcy lawyer, written for your circumstances rather than a generic list.

Free, and yours whether or not you ever speak to an attorney.

Your Debt Relief Roadmap

Example

Chapter 7 — commonly explored here

A Chapter 7 case is one of the pathways commonly explored in situations like this one. A lawyer can tell you how it applies to your exact numbers.

Your local legal framework

Your case would be filed in the Denver Division of the District of Colorado.

Documents to gather

  • · Pay statements for the last six months
  • · Federal tax returns for the last two years
  • · The garnishment notice and any court papers you received

Questions to ask a bankruptcy lawyer

  1. 1. What happens to the garnishment once a case is filed?
  2. 2. Which of my debts would survive a discharge?
  3. 3. What would this cost, and when is it due?
An example of the format. Your Roadmap is built from your own answers and your own county.
Build mine

Why you can trust this

Your court, not just your state

2,826 counties across 46 states are mapped to the district and division that would actually hear the case — each one recorded with the court's own citation and source URL.

Built on the sources, not summaries

19,000+ verbatim documents — statutes, court rules, local practice, fee schedules — collected from the bodies that publish them, with the version and the date we checked recorded alongside.

We say when we don't know

Where a figure hasn't been verified for your state yet, this site leaves it out and tells you so. A wrong legal number is worse than a missing one, so nothing here is inferred or filled in to look complete.

11 U.S.C. § 362Automatic stay
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a petition filed under section 301, 302, or 303 of this title, or an application filed under section 5(a)(3) of the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970, operates as a stay, applicable to all entities, of— (1) the commencement or continuation, including the issuance or employment of process, of a judicial, administrative, or other action or proceeding ag…
uscode.house.gov ↗how this is sourced

Not a summary of the law — the law. Pulled from this site's own record of official sources.

Editorial standardsHow we source the lawCorrections policy

Work it out yourself

Screeners that compare your numbers to the published figures for your state — no account, no verdict, and the source shown for every figure used.

All bankruptcy tools →

Common questions

What is Chapter 7 bankruptcy?
Chapter 7 is the form of consumer bankruptcy often called liquidation. A trustee is appointed to review what someone owns, sell any property that is not covered by an exemption, and distribute the proceeds to creditors. Many eligible debts that remain are then discharged, though several categories — including most support obligations and many student loans — commonly survive. Whether it fits a given situation depends on income, property, and the exemptions available in that state, which is why it is assessed case by case rather than by a rule of thumb.
What is Chapter 13 bankruptcy?
Chapter 13 is the form of consumer bankruptcy built around a repayment plan rather than liquidation. The filer proposes a plan to pay creditors over a period of years from future income, and the court must confirm it. It is commonly explored when there are mortgage arrears to cure, income above the level typical for Chapter 7, property that exemptions would not fully cover, or a prior filing that affects the available options.
Which bankruptcy court would hear my case?
Bankruptcy is federal, and cases are filed in a United States Bankruptcy Court organized by district — with most districts further divided into divisions that each cover specific counties. Which division applies is determined by where the filer lives, not by which courthouse is nearest. Bankruptcy.law maps 2,826 counties across 46 states to their filing division, and records the court's own published source for each assignment, so the answer can be shown with the citation behind it.
Does bankruptcy stop wage garnishment?
Filing a bankruptcy case generally triggers what the Bankruptcy Code calls the automatic stay, which pauses many collection actions — including many wage garnishments — while the case proceeds. There are important exceptions, and the stay can be limited or shortened in some circumstances, such as after certain prior filings. Because the exceptions are what usually matter in practice, this is a question for a bankruptcy attorney rather than a general rule.
Is Bankruptcy.law free, and is it a law firm?
Bankruptcy.law is free to use and requires no account. It is not a law firm. It does not provide legal advice, does not represent anyone, and does not prepare or file bankruptcy petitions. It is a legal-information platform: it explains how the law treats a situation, identifies the court that would hear the case, and helps someone arrive at a lawyer's office already organized. Contact details are never sold, and nothing is shared with a firm unless the person asks for that.
How current is the legal information on this site?
The legal information on Bankruptcy.law is current as of July 2026, and sources are re-checked on a quarterly cycle. Every legal figure is read from the official source that publishes it, stored with its citation and the date it was verified, and shown alongside both. Where a value has not been verified for a given state, the site leaves it out and says so rather than filling the gap — an absent figure is safer than a wrong one. Statutes and court rules are quoted verbatim from the publishing body rather than paraphrased.

Sources last verified July 25, 2026 · update policy

Or read first

Start where you actually are

A few questions about your situation, your state, and your county. You get your options, your court, your documents, and your questions — in about two minutes.

Build my RoadmapJust find my court

Free · No account needed · Your details are never sold

For bankruptcy attorneys: one firm per county, and the intake arrives already organized.

How local placement works →