Bankruptcy

Chapter 7 discharges qualifying debts in about three to four months with no court-supervised repayment plan, though a trustee can sell property that Nevada's exemptions do not protect. Chapter 13 is a three to five year plan that generally lets you keep your property and catch up on a mortgage or car loan, subject to conditions. About 83 percent of Nevada consumer cases are Chapter 7.

Chapter 7, in practice. You file, a trustee reviews what you own, and roughly three to four months later your qualifying debts are discharged. There is no repayment plan, which is the sense in which people say Chapter 7 has "no monthly payments." You may still have payments during the case: attorney fees on an installment arrangement, and the ongoing loan payments required to keep a financed house or car. The trade-off is that property not covered by a Nevada exemption can be sold to pay creditors. Whether any of yours is actually at risk depends on the exemption analysis in the next question. You also have to qualify on income.

Chapter 13, in practice. You propose a plan to pay part or all of your debt over three to five years and you keep your property. The plan must pay unsecured creditors at least what they would have received in a Chapter 7, which is called the best interests test (11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4)). You receive a discharge when you complete the plan, and keeping your property depends on staying current with it. Payments begin before the court confirms the plan; see the timeline question below.

What Chapter 13 can do that Chapter 7 cannot. Cure mortgage arrears over the life of the plan and stop a foreclosure for as long as the plan is confirmed and payments are made (§ 1322(b)(5)), though a lender can still seek relief from the stay and a dismissal puts the foreclosure back on the table. Strip off a second mortgage that is wholly unsecured because the home is worth less than the first. Reduce a car loan to the value of the car, where the lender holds a purchase-money security interest and the debt was incurred more than 910 days before filing; inside that window the reduction is not available. Pay nondischargeable priority taxes over time under court protection. Discharge a divorce property settlement obligation that Chapter 7 would leave in place, on completion of the plan.

Who ends up in Chapter 13. People whose income is above the Nevada median and who do not pass the means test; people with significant non-exempt equity they want to protect; people behind on a house or car they intend to keep; and people who received a Chapter 7 discharge too recently to receive another one.

For the twelve months ending June 30, 2026, the District of Nevada had 7,918 Chapter 7 and 1,594 Chapter 13 non-business filings, which is about 83 percent Chapter 7 (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-2). That ratio moves over time, so check the current table rather than relying on this figure indefinitely.

Usually not, but the analysis has two steps and people skip the first one. First, which state's exemptions you may use, which depends on how long you have lived in Nevada. Second, what those exemptions cover. If you have been domiciled in Nevada for at least two years, Nevada's list applies, and it protects up to $605,000 of home equity and $15,000 of vehicle equity.

Step one: whose exemptions. Nevada opted out of the federal exemption list (NRS 21.090(3)), so Nevada residents generally use Nevada's exemptions rather than the federal set in 11 U.S.C. § 522(d). But which state's law applies at all is a federal question. Under § 522(b)(3)(A), you use the exemptions of the state where you were domiciled for the 730 days before filing. If you moved here more recently than that, you may be required to use the exemptions of your prior state, and if that leaves you with no state's exemptions available, the federal list becomes available instead. If you arrived in Nevada within the last two years, raise it at the first meeting, because it can change the entire plan.

Step two: what Nevada protects. The main consumer exemptions, from NRS 21.090 and NRS 115.010:

• Home equity: $605,000 (NRS 115.010(2)), subject to the federal limit described below.
• Motor vehicle: $15,000 of equity, with no cap if the vehicle is equipped for a person with a disability.
• Household goods, furnishings, electronics, clothing and personal effects: $12,000 total.
• Tools of your trade, including a professional library and equipment: $10,000.
• Wildcard: $10,000 of any personal property you choose that is not otherwise exempt.
• Retirement accounts: Nevada exempts up to $1,000,000 in present value, but that figure is not the whole picture and should not be read as a universal ceiling. An ERISA-qualified employer plan is generally excluded from the bankruptcy estate altogether under § 541(c)(2), and separate federal provisions apply to retirement funds in tax-exempt accounts. Most people's retirement savings are safer than the Nevada number alone suggests. Bring your statements.
• Personal injury compensation: $16,150, though the statute excludes amounts for pain and suffering and for actual pecuniary loss, which is often most of a settlement.
• Books, art, jewelry and musical instruments: $5,000. One firearm of your choosing, with no dollar cap. Prescribed health aids, with no cap.

Two things about the homestead that catch people. First, Nevada's homestead protection is not automatic; a declaration of homestead has to be recorded (NRS 115.020). Second, federal law caps the homestead at $214,000 for equity acquired within 1,215 days, about three years and four months, before filing (11 U.S.C. § 522(p)). That cap has exceptions, including one for equity rolled over from a previous principal residence within the same state, so a move from one Nevada home to another is treated differently from a move from California. It routinely affects people who arrived recently and bought here, and it is one of the first things we check.

Exemptions protect equity, not the loan. If your home or car has a mortgage or a lien, the exemption protects your equity from the trustee. It does not affect the lender's rights. Keeping financed property means staying current with the lender, and in a Chapter 7 that may mean signing a reaffirmation agreement.

Exemptions have to be analyzed carefully and before anything is filed. They are the most common place a filer without a lawyer loses property that the law would have protected.

In most cases yes, and immediately on filing. The automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) stops wage garnishments, bank levies, foreclosure sales, repossessions, collection lawsuits, and collection calls, with no hearing required. Two situations are treated differently and both are common: an eviction where the landlord already holds a judgment for possession, and a new case filed soon after an earlier one was dismissed.

What the stay reaches. Lawsuits and administrative proceedings against you stop where they stand. Enforcement of existing judgments, including wage garnishment and bank levies, stops. Acts to take or control property of the estate, including repossession, stop. Foreclosure and other lien enforcement stops. Acts to collect a debt that arose before you filed, including phone calls and letters, stop. All of this is subject to the exceptions listed in § 362(b), several of which appear below.

Wage garnishment. Your employer is notified to stop withholding. For deciding whether you need to file at all, Nevada's limit is worth knowing: NRS 21.090(1)(g) exempts the greater of 82 percent of your disposable earnings if your gross weekly pay was $770 or less, or 75 percent if it was more, or 50 times the federal minimum hourly wage.

Foreclosure. The stay stops a trustee's sale. Chapter 7 buys time but does not cure the default, so if you are behind and intend to keep the house, Chapter 13 is usually the tool, because it lets you pay the arrears over the plan.

Eviction is the main exception. If your landlord obtained a judgment for possession before you filed, § 362(b)(22) generally lets the eviction proceed. A narrow cure procedure exists under § 362(l) with short deadlines. The practical advice is to call before the judgment, not after.

If you have filed before. With one case dismissed within the past year, the stay terminates on the 30th day unless the court extends it on a motion heard before that deadline (§ 362(c)(3)). With two or more dismissed within the past year, no stay arises at all unless the court imposes one (§ 362(c)(4)). Exactly how far the 30-day termination reaches has been read differently by different courts. Either way, a repeat filing needs to be reviewed quickly and carefully, so bring any prior case information to the first meeting.

The stay also does not stop a criminal prosecution (§ 362(b)(1)) or certain collection of domestic support obligations (§ 362(b)(2)).

Child support and alimony, most recent income taxes, student loans without a finding of undue hardship, debts from a DUI that injured someone, debts obtained by fraud, and criminal fines and restitution. Most other debts, including credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, repossession deficiencies, and most judgments, are discharged in an ordinary case.

The main exceptions, from 11 U.S.C. § 523(a): domestic support obligations; priority taxes; student loans, absent an undue hardship finding; money obtained by fraud or by a materially false written statement about your finances; fiduciary fraud, embezzlement and larceny; willful and malicious injury; debts for death or injury caused by driving while intoxicated; fines and penalties payable to a government; and criminal restitution. Chapter 13 discharges a few categories that Chapter 7 does not, and the lists differ, which is one reason the chapter choice is not only about income.

Older income taxes can sometimes be discharged. The general framework asks whether the return was due, including extensions, more than three years before filing; whether the return was actually filed more than two years before filing (§ 523(a)(1)(B)(ii)); whether the tax was assessed more than 240 days before filing; and whether there was fraud or willful evasion. Treat that as the starting point rather than a checklist you can run yourself. Several things change the answer: a return filed late may not count as a "return" at all for this purpose under the approach taken in this circuit, which can make the tax permanently nondischargeable no matter how long you wait; a prior bankruptcy, an offer in compromise, or a collection due process appeal can suspend the relevant periods; and a tax lien recorded before you file survives the discharge even where your personal liability does not. Tax dischargeability is worth an actual transcript review, and we do one.

Divorce obligations split in two. Support is never dischargeable. A property settlement obligation, meaning a debt to your former spouse that is not in the nature of support, is nondischargeable in Chapter 7 under § 523(a)(15) and dischargeable in Chapter 13 on completion of the plan under § 1328(a). A hardship discharge granted for an incomplete plan does not reach it. For some people that difference alone decides the chapter.

Fraud claims have a deadline; other categories do not. A creditor claiming you obtained credit by fraud, or by embezzlement or willful injury, must file an adversary proceeding within 60 days after the first date set for your meeting of creditors (Bankruptcy Rule 4007(c)), and the court can extend that on a timely motion. That deadline applies only to those categories. Other exceptions, such as support, most taxes and student loans, are not subject to it and can be raised later, including after your case has closed.

Probably not. There is no income ceiling on filing bankruptcy. If your household income is below the Nevada median for your family size, the means test presumption of abuse does not apply to you. If it is above, the means test looks at what is left after allowed expenses, and plenty of above-median households still qualify for Chapter 7.

The Nevada median family income figures, for cases filed on or after July 15, 2026, published by the U.S. Trustee Program:

• 1 person: $72,222
• 2 people: $87,914
• 3 people: $101,638
• 4 people: $114,110
• Add $11,100 for each additional person.

These are revised roughly twice a year. Confirm the current figures at the link above before relying on them.

How the comparison actually works. The Code uses a defined term, current monthly income, which is a monthly figure: the average of the income you received during the six full calendar months before the month you file (11 U.S.C. § 101(10A)). To compare it against the annual median figures above, that monthly average is multiplied by twelve. The statutory definition has its own inclusions and exclusions, and it is not the same as your tax return income or your take-home pay. The six-month lookback matters more than people expect: a job loss or a pay cut last month barely moves the average yet, so timing can change the result.

If you are above median. You deduct allowed expenses, some at IRS standard amounts and some at your actual cost, and multiply what remains by 60. A presumption of abuse arises if that figure crosses the statutory threshold (§ 707(b)(2)), and the presumption can be rebutted by special circumstances.

Two qualifications. The means test applies only where your debts are primarily consumer debts, so someone whose debts are mostly business debts may skip it entirely even at a high income. And being below the median is not an absolute guarantee: a case can still be challenged under § 707(b)(3) for bad faith or on the totality of the circumstances. That is uncommon, and it is the reason the honest answer is "almost certainly" rather than "automatically."

Failing the means test does not mean no relief is available. It usually means Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7.

There is no minimum. The Bankruptcy Code sets no dollar floor. The better question is whether you can realistically clear what you owe in a reasonable period, and what carrying it is costing you in the meantime.

A practical benchmark. A Chapter 13 plan runs three to five years. If you could not pay off your unsecured debt within about five years even on a disciplined budget, you are in the range where bankruptcy is worth evaluating, whatever the total.

The factors that actually decide it. Whether you can cover necessities and still make payments. Whether balances are going down or whether you are only covering interest. Your debt to income ratio. Whether you are being sued or garnished. Whether the debt has a realistic end date. And the level of stress you are carrying, which is not a legal factor but is a real one.

One step worth pausing on. People frequently draw down retirement savings or take a home equity loan to pay credit cards before they call a lawyer. Retirement accounts and home equity carry significant protection in bankruptcy, and converting protected assets into payments on debt that might have been discharged is not reversible. If you are considering that step, it is worth a free consultation first.

Small balances can still justify filing when they are attached to an active garnishment or a judgment, because the automatic stay stops the collection on day one.

Yes, we offer a $0 down Chapter 7 option. There are three Chapter 7 paths, and each one includes the court's filing fee, so the advertised number is what you pay. Chapter 13 works differently: an initial retainer to get your case filed, with the balance paid through your plan.

Chapter 7, three ways. Every figure below includes the $338 court filing fee.

• $0 down, then $166 per month for twelve months. Total $1,992.
• $599 down, then $99 per month for twelve months. Total $1,787.
• $1,399 paid up front, which is a $1,061 attorney fee plus the $338 filing fee.

Paying over time costs more than paying up front. We would rather put all three totals in front of you than let you work that out afterward.

Chapter 13. $1,499 up front as an initial retainer, which includes the $313 court filing fee. The balance of the attorney fee is paid through your Chapter 13 plan rather than out of pocket, and like all Chapter 13 attorney compensation it is subject to court approval. There is no $0 down option in Chapter 13, because the plan structure handles the same problem a different way.

For reference, the court's own fees. The filing fee is $338 for a Chapter 7 and $313 for a Chapter 13, set by the federal judiciary and unchanged since December 1, 2023 (Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule). Our prices above already cover it. Separately, and whether or not you hire a lawyer, a Chapter 7 filer whose income is below 150 percent of the federal poverty line and who also cannot pay in installments may apply to have the fee waived on Official Form 103B (28 U.S.C. § 1930(f)(1)). Otherwise the court allows it to be paid in installments on Official Form 103A.

What you are actually signing. The scope of the representation and every fee are set out in a written agreement, and we go through it with you before you sign anything or pay anything. Attorney compensation in a bankruptcy case is also disclosed to the court under 11 U.S.C. § 329 and Bankruptcy Rule 2016(b), so the arrangement is on the record rather than a private understanding. If you want to know exactly how a payment option is structured, ask at the consultation and we will walk you through it.

Questions worth asking any firm. Is the fee flat, or a retainer billed against hourly time? Is the court filing fee included, or charged on top of the quoted price? Can I read the written agreement before I pay anything? Who appears with me at the meeting of creditors, the attorney I met with or someone else?

A typical Nevada Chapter 7 runs about three to four months from filing to discharge, though a case with assets to administer or a dispute can run longer. You attend one meeting, and in the District of Nevada that meeting has been held by Zoom video conference since June 2024 (U.S. Trustee Program, Region 17). Most Chapter 7 filers never set foot in the Foley Federal Building.

The Chapter 7 sequence.

• Before filing: you complete the credit counseling course, which must be taken within the 180 days before your case is filed (11 U.S.C. § 109(h)).
• Filing day: the automatic stay takes effect and collection stops.
• Twenty-one to forty days later: the meeting of creditors, often called the 341 meeting (Bankruptcy Rule 2003(a)). The trustee asks you questions under oath, usually for five to ten minutes, about what you own and what you owe. Creditors may attend and rarely do. There is no judge, and it happens over Zoom.
• After filing: you complete the debtor education course and the certificate is filed.
• Sixty days after the first date set for the meeting: the deadline for objecting to your discharge, and for fraud-type dischargeability complaints under Rule 4007(c). In the large majority of consumer cases nobody files anything. Note that some categories of nondischargeable debt are not governed by that deadline; see the question above.
• After that: the discharge order is entered. The case is usually closed shortly afterward, but discharge and closing are separate events, and a case stays open longer where a trustee is still administering assets.

Chapter 13 runs on a different schedule. You attend the same meeting of creditors, and the court holds a confirmation hearing on your plan. Plan payments do not wait for confirmation: you must begin making them within 30 days after the petition is filed or the plan is filed, whichever is earlier, unless the court orders otherwise (11 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(1)). Payments then continue for three to five years, and the discharge comes at the end.

When you would actually appear before a judge. Contested matters: a creditor's motion for relief from the stay, an objection to an exemption you claimed, a dispute over whether a debt is dischargeable. Most consumer Chapter 7 cases have none of these.

Your plan payment is not a percentage of what you owe. It is driven by three things: what you can afford after allowed expenses, what your creditors would have received in a Chapter 7, and anything the plan has to pay in full, such as mortgage arrears and recent taxes. Two people with identical debt can have very different payments.

The disposable income floor. If your income is above the Nevada median, the plan generally has to commit all of your projected disposable income for 60 months, calculated using the statutory expense allowances rather than your actual budget (11 U.S.C. § 1325(b)). Below the median, the applicable commitment period is generally 36 months.

The best interests floor. Separately, unsecured creditors must receive at least what they would have received if you had filed a Chapter 7, meaning the value of your non-exempt property (§ 1325(a)(4)). If you have substantial non-exempt equity, this can set the payment even where your disposable income is low.

What gets added on top. Mortgage or vehicle arrears you are curing. Priority debts that must be paid in full, such as recent income taxes and support arrears. Secured claims you are paying through the plan rather than directly. And the Chapter 13 trustee's percentage fee, which is taken out of your payment.

What this means practically. The payment follows your income, your allowed expenses, and what you are trying to keep, rather than the size of your credit card balances. Someone with $80,000 of unsecured debt and modest income may pay a small fraction of it. Someone with $20,000 of debt, high income, and a house they are behind on may pay considerably more per month.

It is not fixed forever. If your circumstances change during the plan, a modification can be requested (§ 1329). And remember that payments begin within 30 days of filing, before the court confirms anything.

We run the calculation before you decide, so you see the number rather than agreeing to a chapter and finding out later.

Federal law allows a bankruptcy to be reported for up to ten years from the date your case is filed. That is a ceiling on reporting, not a prediction about your score. For many Chapter 7 filers the score improves within a year, because the balances dragging it down are gone, but scoring is individual and nobody can promise you a number.

The ten years is statutory. The seven years is not. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(1) allows a credit reporting agency to report any case under title 11 for ten years from the entry of the order for relief, which in a voluntary case is the day you file. The statute makes no distinction between chapters. The major credit bureaus have generally removed completed Chapter 13 cases after seven years, but that is a reporting practice rather than a legal requirement, and practices change.

What actually happens to the score. Scoring models are proprietary, so no one can tell you a number in advance. The usual pattern is that the largest single factor is the disappearance of outstanding balances. For people who arrive with maxed-out cards, collection accounts, and late payments, improvement is the common direction. If you arrive with an excellent score and are filing for a different reason, expect a drop.

We show you a projection before you decide. Before we file, we pull your credit report and an estimated score for twelve months out, so you are weighing the decision against a number rather than a guess. It is a projection and not a promise about where your score will land. It still beats going in blind, and most people find it is the piece of information that settles the question for them.

Rebuilding. A secured credit card, on-time payments, and low utilization do most of the work. One step worth taking that is easy to overlook: pull all three reports a couple of months after discharge and confirm every discharged debt is reported with a zero balance. Errors are common and they cost real points.

A bankruptcy filing is a public record, and there is no routine notice to your employer in a Chapter 7. There are several ways an employer can learn about a case anyway, described below. Federal law prohibits both government and private employers from firing you solely because you filed, and prohibits government agencies from denying or revoking a license on that basis.

How an employer might find out. If your wages are being garnished, your employer is notified to stop. If your employer is itself a creditor, for example on a payroll advance or a 401(k) loan, it receives notice of your case. In a Chapter 13 the court may order your plan payment to be deducted from your wages (11 U.S.C. § 1325(c)), which necessarily involves your employer. And the records are public, so a search would find them. Outside of those routes, nobody makes a point of telling your employer.

Government employers and licensing agencies. Under 11 U.S.C. § 525(a), a governmental unit may not deny, revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew a license, permit, charter or franchise, and may not deny employment, terminate employment, or discriminate in employment, solely because you are or have been a bankruptcy debtor, were insolvent, or did not pay a dischargeable debt. In southern Nevada that reaches gaming licensing, professional and occupational licensing, and public employment directly.

Private employers. Under § 525(b), no private employer may terminate your employment or discriminate against you in your employment solely because you filed.

The limits, stated honestly. Both provisions require the discrimination be solely because of the bankruptcy, which is demanding to prove. And § 525(b) covers your current employment but omits refusal to hire; most courts that have considered the question have held a private employer may decline to hire an applicant because of a bankruptcy filing, and some employers do run credit checks on candidates.

If you hold or are applying for a Nevada gaming license, or any license with its own financial disclosure requirements, say so at the first meeting. Your reporting obligations and the timing of a filing can interact, and that is a conversation to have before anything is filed.

No. Nothing requires spouses to file together, and one spouse filing alone is common. But Nevada is a community property state, so filing alone brings more into the case than most people expect, and it also extends a protection to the non-filing spouse that few people have heard of. Filing alone does not remove your spouse's income from the means test.

What comes into the case. Under 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(2), when one spouse files in a community property state, community property under the debtor's sole, equal, or joint management and control, or liable for a claim against the debtor, becomes part of the bankruptcy estate. In a typical Nevada marriage that reaches most of what the couple owns rather than a one-half interest in it, and the exemptions have to cover it.

What the non-filing spouse gets. Section 524(a)(3) creates what practitioners call the community discharge. The filing spouse's discharge bars creditors holding community claims from reaching community property acquired after the case is filed, which includes the non-filing spouse's future wages, even though that spouse received no discharge of their own. For many Nevada couples this is why one filing is enough.

Its limits matter. It does not discharge the non-filing spouse's personal liability, creditors may still pursue that spouse's separate property, and it does not cover community claims that would be excepted from discharge as to that spouse.

Income is counted either way. Whether you file alone or together, a non-filing spouse's income is included in the means test calculation, subject to a marital adjustment for amounts that person does not contribute to the household expenses of the debtor or the debtor's dependents. Filing alone is not a way to leave a spouse's earnings out of the analysis. Where the spouses live separately or keep genuinely separate finances, the adjustment can matter a great deal, and it is worth documenting.

When filing jointly makes sense: most of the debt is joint, both spouses are exposed, and one filing fee covers both of you.

When filing alone makes sense: one spouse has significant separate debt from before the marriage, one spouse has an excellent credit score worth preserving, or one spouse holds a license or a position where a filing carries consequences worth avoiding.

Gambling losses and ordinary casino debt are generally treated like other unsecured debt. Casino markers are different, because Nevada treats an unpaid marker as a bad check, and filing bankruptcy does not stop a criminal prosecution. This is a question to raise with a lawyer before you file rather than after.

Why markers are treated differently. A marker is a counter check drawn on your own bank account. NRS 205.130 expressly reaches a person who passes a check to obtain credit extended by a licensed gaming establishment when there are insufficient funds. Under $1,200 is a misdemeanor; at $1,200 or more it is a category D felony. The statute aggregates instruments passed in Nevada during any 90-day period, so several smaller markers can add together past the felony line. In Clark County these are handled by the District Attorney's bad check unit, which adds its own collection fee.

What bankruptcy does and does not do here. The civil debt on a marker may be discharged along with other unsecured debt, though a casino can object on fraud grounds and the outcomes in litigated cases vary, so nobody can tell you in advance how a particular marker comes out. What is clear is that bankruptcy does not touch the criminal side. Section 362(b)(1) provides that the automatic stay does not apply to a criminal action or proceeding, so a filing will not stop, pause, or undo a prosecution. Criminal restitution is also not discharged, whether ordered under federal law (§ 523(a)(13)) or state law (§ 523(a)(7); see Kelly v. Robinson, 479 U.S. 36 (1986)).

A number of websites say flatly that casino markers cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. That overstates it, and the overstatement obscures the point that matters: the civil debt and the criminal exposure are two separate problems with two separate answers.

Recent gambling activity draws scrutiny. Cash advances under an open-end credit plan totaling more than $1,250 within 70 days before filing are presumed nondischargeable (11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(C)), and a creditor can object on fraud grounds where borrowing suggests no realistic intent to repay. Those thresholds took effect April 1, 2025 and adjust again in 2028.

If you have unpaid markers, get both bankruptcy and criminal defense advice before anything is filed.

Yes. Medical debt is general unsecured debt, the same category as credit cards, and in an ordinary Chapter 7 it is discharged. There is no special rule for medical bills, no minimum, and no maximum.

The stage the bill has reached does not change the outcome. Still with the hospital, sold to a collection agency, or already reduced to a judgment, it is treated the same way, and a judgment creditor's garnishment stops when you file. One caveat: a judgment may have created a lien on your property. Your discharge eliminates your personal liability, but a lien that attached before filing can survive it. Some liens can be removed by motion where they impair an exemption (11 U.S.C. § 522(f)), which is a separate step that has to be requested.

List every provider, including ones you still see. After your discharge you are free to pay a doctor you want to keep seeing, voluntarily, but nobody can require it. Leaving a creditor off your schedules causes problems rather than solving them.

Medical debt on a credit card is credit card debt and is discharged along with the rest.

A bill you co-signed for someone else is your debt too. Your discharge eliminates your liability, not theirs, and the provider can still pursue them.

Timing matters if you are still in treatment. Debts incurred after your case is filed are not discharged. If a surgery or a course of treatment is coming, that is worth discussing before choosing a filing date.

Sometimes. Student loans covered by 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8) are not discharged automatically in either chapter. You have to bring a separate proceeding inside your bankruptcy case and establish undue hardship. Since November 2022 the federal government has used a streamlined process for federal loans that has made this more achievable than its reputation suggests.

What the standard is. A covered student loan survives a discharge unless the court finds that excepting it would impose an undue hardship on you and your dependents. That applies to a Chapter 7 discharge and, through § 1328(a)(2), to an ordinary Chapter 13 discharge on completion of the plan as well.

What changed in 2022. The Department of Justice and the Department of Education issued guidance under which the borrower completes an attestation form covering income, expenses, and future circumstances, and government attorneys apply published criteria to decide whether to support a discharge rather than opposing by default. That guidance and the form remain published. It is still a separate adversary proceeding, it is still discretionary, and no lawyer can promise an outcome. Policy here moves, so ask us to confirm where it stands before relying on it.

Not every education debt is covered. Section 523(a)(8) reaches government-backed loans, certain nonprofit-funded loans, and qualified education loans as defined by the tax code. A private loan that falls outside those categories, which happens more often than borrowers realize with some career training and tuition financing products, may be dischargeable without any undue hardship showing. Bring your loan documents so they can be read rather than assumed.

Chapter 13 offers something different. It does not discharge a covered student loan, but it can hold collection at bay for three to five years while you deal with everything else, which is sometimes the actual objective.

No. Recent charges and cash advances are the quickest way to turn a routine case into a contested one. The Bankruptcy Code presumes certain recent debts nondischargeable based on timing and amount alone, without the creditor having to prove what you intended.

The two presumptions, from 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(C). More than $900 in consumer debt owed to a single creditor for luxury goods or services, incurred within 90 days before filing, is presumed nondischargeable. More than $1,250 in cash advances under an open-end credit plan, taken within 70 days before filing, is presumed nondischargeable. Those amounts took effect April 1, 2025 and adjust again on April 1, 2028. The presumptions are rebuttable, but rebutting one costs time and money you would rather not spend.

Outside those windows a creditor can still object under § 523(a)(2)(A) where a pattern of charges suggests a balance you never intended to repay.

Other things to avoid before filing.

• Repaying a relative. A payment to a family member may be recoverable by the trustee as a preference, and for insiders the lookback is a full year rather than 90 days (§ 547(b)(4)(B)). The trustee has to establish the statutory elements and defenses exist, and small consumer transfers fall below a statutory floor. But a meaningful repayment shortly before filing can result in a demand to the person you paid.
• Transferring property out of your name. This gets examined closely and rarely helps.
• Cashing out retirement or taking a plan loan to pay unsecured debt. Retirement savings carry significant protection in bankruptcy. Spending protected money on debt that might have been discharged cannot be undone.
• New title loans or payday loans. They add a secured or very recent debt at the worst possible moment.

The better order is to talk to a lawyer first, and then decide what to stop paying.

There are two, and missing either one can cost you your discharge. Credit counseling comes before you file, within 180 days. Debtor education comes after you file. Both must be taken from an agency approved for the District of Nevada, and the U.S. Trustee Program publishes the approved lists.

Credit counseling, before filing. Required by 11 U.S.C. § 109(h). It is a briefing on your financial situation and the alternatives to bankruptcy, taken within the 180 days before your case is filed. You can do it online or by phone, it usually takes about an hour, and approved agencies are required to have a policy for waiving or reducing the fee for people who cannot afford it. You receive a certificate, which is filed with your case. Filing without it will normally get your case dismissed. Narrow exceptions exist for exigent circumstances and for incapacity, disability, or active military duty in a combat zone (§ 109(h)(3) and (h)(4)), but they are exceptions rather than a plan.

Debtor education, after filing. Required by § 727(a)(11). This is a personal financial management course covering budgeting, credit, and money management. The certificate has to be filed with the court, and in a Chapter 7 the deadline is 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors.

The second course is where cases go wrong. Forgetting it is a common reason a case closes with no discharge after everything else went right. The remedy is reopening the case, which costs a new filing fee and additional attorney time. It is entirely avoidable with a calendar reminder.

The waiting periods most people have heard of limit when you can receive another discharge, not when you can file. Filing itself is usually possible sooner, and there are real reasons to do it. Separate rules can make you ineligible to file for a period, and a court can impose its own bar, so a prior case always has to be reviewed before a new one is filed.

The four discharge waiting periods, each measured from the date the earlier case was filed rather than from the date you received your discharge:

• Chapter 7 after Chapter 7: eight years, from the filing date of the earlier case to the filing date of the new one (11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(8)).
• Chapter 7 after Chapter 13: six years from the earlier filing, waived entirely if your plan paid 100 percent of allowed unsecured claims, or 70 percent where the plan was proposed in good faith and was your best effort (§ 727(a)(9)).
• Chapter 13 after Chapter 7: four years from the Chapter 7 filing date (§ 1328(f)(1)).
• Chapter 13 after Chapter 13: two years from the earlier filing (§ 1328(f)(2)). Since plans run three to five years, this rarely comes up.

Why the distinction changes people's options. None of those four provisions bars you from filing; they bar the court from granting a discharge. There are real reasons to file knowing no discharge is coming: a Chapter 13 to cure mortgage arrears and stop a foreclosure, to strip a wholly unsecured second mortgage, or to pay nondischargeable tax debt over time under the protection of the automatic stay. If you were told you simply have to wait years, that answer may have been about the discharge rather than about your options.

What can actually prevent a filing. Under § 109(g), you are ineligible to be a debtor for 180 days if a prior case was dismissed for willful failure to obey court orders or to appear in proper prosecution, or if you requested a voluntary dismissal after a creditor moved for relief from the stay. Courts can also impose longer filing bars in appropriate cases. And for repeat filers the automatic stay is limited or absent (§ 362(c)(3) and (c)(4)).

Bring the prior case number and dismissal paperwork to the first meeting. This is one of the areas where the right answer depends on details that are easy to get wrong from memory.

Cars, often within months. Homes, historically two to four years depending on the loan program. Mortgage waiting periods are set by the loan programs themselves rather than by the bankruptcy court, they generally run from your discharge or dismissal date, and they do change. Treat any number below as a planning estimate to verify with a lender rather than a deadline you can rely on.

Vehicles. Financing is frequently available soon after a Chapter 7 case closes, sometimes immediately, from lenders who work with recent filers, and the rates reflect that. During a Chapter 13 you can finance a vehicle, but you need court approval to incur new debt and the trustee will want to see that the payment fits your plan. Waiting a year and rebuilding first usually produces better terms than accepting the first offer.

Mortgages. Based on the guidelines lenders have applied in recent years, and subject to change at any time by the agencies that set them:

• FHA: historically around two years from a Chapter 7 discharge, with re-established credit.
• VA: historically around two years.
• USDA: historically around three years.
• Conventional: historically around four years from a Chapter 7 discharge or dismissal, and around two years from a Chapter 13 discharge, with a longer period after a Chapter 13 dismissal. Shorter windows have been available where documented extenuating circumstances apply.

Two reasons the real answer may differ from the list above. These are program minimums, and individual lenders frequently apply their own stricter overlays on top of them, which is why two lenders can give you different answers on the same day. And the agencies revise their guidelines periodically, so a number that was right last year may not be right when you apply. Ask a lender for their current requirement rather than planning around a figure you read anywhere, including here.

What lenders weigh more heavily than the bankruptcy itself. What you have done since. A clean payment history, stable income, a reasonable debt to income ratio, and a documented down payment matter more to an underwriter than the filing on your report. A bankruptcy is not a permanent bar to lending.

Sometimes, and not always. Settlement and consolidation can work for someone with a manageable balance, steady income, and nobody suing them. They carry three costs people rarely hear about up front: forgiven debt can be taxable income, your credit takes damage from the delinquencies either way, and nothing stops creditors while you negotiate.

Debt settlement. You stop paying, a company accumulates funds in an account, and it eventually tries to settle each debt for less than the balance. In the meantime your accounts go delinquent, interest and fees keep accruing, and any creditor is free to sue you and garnish your wages. Forgiven debt over $600 generally generates a 1099-C and may be taxable income unless you were insolvent under IRC § 108. Most settlement companies charge fees whether or not every debt settles.

Debt consolidation. A new loan pays off the old ones. This helps only if the interest rate is genuinely lower and you stop using the accounts you just paid off. Consolidating unsecured debt into a home equity loan is usually the wrong direction, because it converts debt a bankruptcy might have discharged into debt secured by your house.

Where bankruptcy is different. The automatic stay stops collection the day you file rather than eventually. Debt discharged in bankruptcy is excluded from gross income (IRC § 108(a)(1)(A)), though you reduce certain tax attributes such as loss carryovers and basis by the excluded amount. And the timeline is defined rather than open-ended.

Where settlement genuinely is the better answer. One large debt you have leverage to negotiate. A balance you could clear in a year or two. An asset situation that bankruptcy would not protect. Or a licensing or immigration consideration that makes filing costly for you specifically. If that describes your situation, we will say so at the consultation.

Yes. You have the right to file on your own, and for a narrow set of situations it is a reasonable choice. The difficulty is not the forms. It is that the mistakes tend to be invisible until they have already cost something that cannot be recovered.

What tends to go wrong.

• Claiming the wrong exemption, or none, and losing a vehicle or a tax refund that the law would have protected.
• Not realizing that a recent move means another state's exemptions apply.
• Missing the 180-day credit counseling window, which normally results in dismissal.
• Never filing the debtor education certificate, which closes the case with no discharge after everything else went right.
• Filing a Chapter 7 where the means test pointed toward dismissal or conversion.
• Not knowing that a recent cash advance is presumed nondischargeable, and drawing an adversary proceeding.
• Failing to disclose an asset, a transfer, a lawsuit, or a prior filing.
• Never recording a declaration of homestead, leaving equity exposed unnecessarily.

Where filing on your own may be reasonable. No real property. No vehicle equity beyond the exemption. No transfers, no recent large charges, no lawsuits. Two or more years of Nevada residency. Income well below the median. Nothing but unsecured credit card and medical debt. That describes a real number of people, and if it describes you, the Civil Law Self-Help Center and the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada both offer free assistance.

If it does not describe you, the cost of getting it wrong is usually more than the fee. We will give you an honest read at the consultation, including when the answer is that you do not need us.