One important thing you'll experience when you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the automatic stay.
This means that the court will prohibit your creditors from trying to repossess your car, foreclose on your house, or garnish your wages.
They are not even supposed to contact you regarding your debt without getting the court's permission.
Even so, there are some exceptions.
Child support and alimony are among the exceptions.
These are normally not discharged during bankruptcy, and the automatic stay will not protect you from these responsibilities.
Also, if you are paying back a loan from your retirement plan, these deductions will continue.
Bankruptcy will not save you from criminal prosecution, in case you were wondering about that.
Also, government regulations that are not primarily intended to collect a debt will continue.
For example, you can have your license revoked for malpractice, but the automatic stay may temporarily keep your license from being suspended if you do not pay a judgment related to a car crash.
The legal question here is whether the end result is to obtain a debt payment from you or simply to regulate other matters.
What about evictions? Well, that depends on your state's law.
If a state judge has entered a judgment against you and the state law says that you can no longer reinstate the lease, you may be evicted despite a bankruptcy proceeding.
Also, you may not receive the benefits of an automatic stay if you have petitioned a bankruptcy and have the case dismissed within the past year.
Despite these exceptions, this provision can be a powerful way to provide you some relief while your case is heard.
If you are successful with a Chapter 7 proceeding, you can eliminate your debts (or many of them, anyway) permanently.