Bankruptcy is a process whereby unfortunate but honest debtors can receive a “fresh start.”

Getting started
With a chapter 7 bankruptcy, all debts are discharged (meaning the creditor no longer has a legal right to collect the debt), but all debtors must turn over any non-exempt property to an appointed official called a “trustee.” It is the trustee’s job to find assets to distribute to the debtor’s unsecured creditors.