Types

• There are primarily two types of personal bankruptcy protection for which you can file in the state of Texas: Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. A Chapter 7 or straight bankruptcy can eliminate all your debts except for those that cannot be discharged, such as child support, alimony, back taxes, the majority of school loans and government fines or penalties. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy, also known as reorganization or wage earner bankruptcy, allows you to set up a feasible repayment plan to pay your creditors over a three- to five-year period.
  
  

Considerations

• Honestly scrutinize your fiscal health, and look for four indicating factors that filing for bankruptcy protection may be in your best interests. If you are only able to pay the minimum monthly amounts due on your debts, and you cannot realistically come up with a budget that would have you debt-free within five years, you may want to consider bankruptcy as an option. If you experience a financial crisis, such as job loss, serious illness or divorce, which may create prolonged financial hardship, or if your mortgage lender has sent you a foreclosure notice, you may want to acquire Texas bankruptcy help from an experienced bankruptcy attorney to file for protection from your creditors.
  
  

Exemptions

• When you file for bankruptcy protection, certain assets may be exempt, which means they cannot be seized or sold to pay off your debts. There are federal and state bankruptcy exemptions, and some states require debtors to use only state exemptions, while others like Texas, allow debtors to choose state or federal exemptions. Under federal law there are numerous exemptions, but as far as state exemptions are concerned, Texas has some of the most lenient bankruptcy exemptions.
  
  

Districts

• Texas bankruptcy courts are separated into four distinct districts: the Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern districts. Texas bankruptcy help can be found through a number of bankruptcy lawyers, some of which offer their services for the entire state of Texas and others who specialize in bankruptcy rules for a particular district. BankruptcyHome.com, for example, provides information about bankruptcy laws for nine prominent Texas cities, including Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston, and you can find listings of Texas bankruptcy attorneys by city or county on sites such as Lawyers.com, Lawyers.FindLaw.com and Nolo.com (see "Resources").
  
  

Additional Help

• Each of the four Texas bankruptcy court districts has a website with answers to frequently asked questions, general information, rules, forms, fees and other helpful links. The United States Courts website (uscourts.gov) also offers bankruptcy forms, rules, resources and information about each specific type of bankruptcy.