Bankruptcy Benefits For High Income Earners

When you have a high amount of credit card debt, bankruptcy is often a good solution even if you are a high income earner. In a bankruptcy the court considers equity in assets and income compared to expenses in determining whether you can eliminate the debt or whether you have to pay back some or all of the debt. I sometimes have people come into my Cherry Hill, New Jersey or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania office that believe bankruptcy is not an option because they “earn too much money”. While the high income may prevent the individual from filing a chapter 7, they can file a chapter 13 bankruptcy. Depending on disposable income after taking into account reasonable and necessary living expenses, the disposable income would be used for a period up to five years to pay the creditors. Depending on total debt and income, you may be able to pay a reduced amount, like 40% of the debt. However, even if you have to pay the debt in full, you can pay it over 5 years without interest. This results in a significant savings. Short term, the payment is going to be less than you were paying monthly. Long term the savings is even greater because if you are paying minimum payments on a credit card, it will take approximately 22 years to pay off the debt. In Chapter 13, it is only 5 years. Even a high income earner should consult with an experienced bankruptcy attorney if they are struggling with high credit card debt.