Can You File for Bankruptcy Without Any Assets?

When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you may be surprised to learn that the court assigns you a trustee to oversee your case. This individual carefully reviews the details of your filing, including all assets, income and debts. He or she may look into why you sold certain items before filing for Chapter 7 and challenge any assets you aim to exempt from the bankruptcy process.

It’s possible that you will never hand over a single asset to your bankruptcy trustee. This will happen if you move forward with a no-asset case. This designation signals to creditors that they will likely not get any money out of the bankruptcy proceedings because you don’t own any significant assets.

Although there is not really such a thing as a bankruptcy case that does not involve any assets at all, you may have few enough assets that you can easily protect them from creditors.

What is a no-asset bankruptcy case?

Most Georgia bankruptcies are classified as no-asset cases. This designation applies if you have very few assets and/or are able to apply state or federal exemptions to the assets or property you do own.

If this is true in your case, the court sends a notice to any creditors seeking payment, telling them they will not receive anything as a result of the bankruptcy and won’t need to file a proof of claim that documents how much money is owed to them. If the trustee does uncover any assets while conducting his or her investigation, creditors will be alerted to those changes so that they can file the necessary paperwork to claim a portion of the assets.

Keep in mind that exemptions vary from state to state. Here’s a list of Georgia bankruptcy exemptions of which you should be aware.

To learn more about the processes associated with no-asset bankruptcy cases in Georgia, meet with a knowledgeable bankruptcy attorney at Jeff Field & Associates. Call the firm at 404-381-1278 or contact us online to schedule a free initial consultation.