Your debts

Which debts bankruptcy erases and which survive: credit cards, medical bills, taxes, student loans, support.

Which debts does bankruptcy erase, and which survive?Start by assuming a debt goes away, because most do: credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, payday loans, old repossession and foreclosure balances, and most collection accounts. Then check the exceptions. Recent taxes, child support and alimony, most student loans, court fines and restitution, and debts from fraud generally survive.
Can bankruptcy get rid of medical debt?Yes, completely. Medical debt is unsecured debt with no special protection, so it is discharged in full in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, no matter how large it is. There is no dollar cap and no requirement that you pay any portion of it first.
Can bankruptcy get rid of student loans? The honest current answerSometimes, and more often than people think. Student loans aren't erased automatically; you have to file a separate case inside your bankruptcy and show hardship. But since 2022, the government evaluates federal loan cases under a standardized process, and most people who actually ask are getting some or all of their loans wiped out. The tragedy is how few people ask.
Can bankruptcy wipe out tax debt?Sometimes. Recent income taxes survive bankruptcy, but older income tax debt can be discharged if it meets a set of timing rules: roughly, the taxes are at least three years old, you filed the returns at least two years ago, and the IRS assessed them at least 240 days ago. Payroll taxes and fraud penalties never discharge. The timing rules are exact, so this is a calendar question, and sometimes waiting a few months changes the answer.
Should I stop paying my credit cards?If you are going to file bankruptcy, continuing to pay credit cards that will be discharged is usually money you will never get back. But stopping payments without a plan creates new problems, and a few things you might do in the meantime can hurt your case. Decide the plan first, then the payments.
What happens to child support and alimony in bankruptcy?They survive. Child support and alimony can't be discharged in any bankruptcy, past-due amounts keep their first-in-line status, and collection of support from your wages continues even during the case. What bankruptcy can do is clear away the other debts so support is actually payable, and Chapter 13 can give you a structured way to catch up big arrears.
Do payday loans and title loans go away in bankruptcy?Payday loans: yes, they're ordinary unsecured debt and are discharged like credit cards, no matter how many times they've rolled over. Title loans are different, because the lender holds your car title as collateral; the debt discharges but the lien on the car doesn't, so keeping the car means dealing with the loan.
Can bankruptcy erase benefit overpayments (Social Security, unemployment)?Usually yes. Overpayments of Social Security, unemployment, SNAP, and similar benefits are ordinary dischargeable debts; owing the government doesn't change that. The exception is fraud: if you got the benefits by lying (or knowingly kept collecting after returning to work), the agency can fight the discharge, and courts side with agencies on genuine misrepresentation. Agency 'at fault' letters aren't the bankruptcy standard, and the bankruptcy standard is friendlier to you.
Court fines, traffic tickets, and restitution in bankruptcyMostly survivors. Criminal fines, restitution, and penalties payable to the government don't discharge in Chapter 7, and criminal restitution survives Chapter 13 too. But the map has real openings: some civil and older government penalties can discharge in Chapter 13, parking and traffic fines vary by how your jurisdiction classifies them, and bankruptcy can still stop license suspensions over unpaid *judgments* and clear the debts around the fines so they're payable.
Debts from a divorce: what bankruptcy can and can't touchSplit them into two piles. Support (child support, alimony, anything functioning as support) survives every bankruptcy, period. Property-settlement debts (equalization payments, 'I'll pay the joint card and hold you harmless') survive Chapter 7 but can be discharged in Chapter 13, one of the quietest big differences between the chapters. And your discharge never protects your ex on debts they co-signed, which is where hold-harmless clauses bite.
I owe money to family and friends. What happens to those loans?Legally, Mom is just another unsecured creditor: the loan must be listed, it gets discharged with the rest, and here's the part nobody expects: if you repaid family in the year before filing, the trustee can sue them to take the money back. The law can't stop you from voluntarily repaying anyone after your discharge, and many people quietly do. What you must not do is pay family first on the way in, or leave them off the paperwork.
Can a discharged debt ever come back?A properly discharged debt is dead forever: no expiration, no revival by payment, promise, or the debt being sold. The genuine exceptions are narrow: a reaffirmation you signed during the case, a discharge revoked for fraud within a year, liens that were never avoided (the debt died; the collateral claim didn't), and debts that were never actually in the discharge, like support or recent taxes. Everything else claiming to be a comeback is a zombie collector bluffing.

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