What makes a bankruptcy case simple or complicated?

Why $80,000 can be simpler than $8,000

A filer with $80,000 in cards and medical bills, a rented apartment, a modest car, and below-median wages has a textbook case: everything dischargeable, everything exempt, four months, done. A filer with $8,000 in debt, a jointly-owned house with equity, a repaid loan to Dad, and an unfiled tax year has four separate analysis problems. The system prices analysis, not balances.

The feature list

Count yours, honestly:

• Income above your state’s median — the long-form means test, with judgment calls (the above-median answer explains)
• A house with equity near or over your state’s exemption — the highest-stakes feature there is
• A business, present or recent — assets, guarantees, payroll taxes
• Money moved in the past year-plus — transfers, family repayments, big purchases (the what-gets-cases-in-trouble answer covers why)
• Tax debt or unfiled returns — a calendar puzzle with real openings
• A prior bankruptcy — clocks and stay limits
• Active lawsuits, garnishments, or a sale date — speed becomes its own feature
• Cosigners you want to protect, or a divorce decree entangled with the debts
• Expected money — refunds, inheritances, claims

Reading your count

Zero or one: the routine case; a competent consumer practice handles it smoothly, and the do-I-need-a-lawyer answer’s self-filing discussion is at least relevant reading. Two or three: entirely normal — most real cases live here — but this is squarely attorney territory, and your features should headline the consultation. Several: you’re not doomed, you’re interesting, and interesting cases reward the experienced practitioner and punish the volume mill. Ask directly: “how often do you handle cases with a business / this much equity / tax years like mine?”

Two cautions on self-scoring. Features hide: people forget the repaid loan, misjudge the equity, or don’t know a decree clause is a debt — which is why the count is a preparation tool, not a verdict. And features interact: equity plus above-median income might point at Chapter 13 for reasons neither feature shows alone. The count tells you what to bring up; what it means is exactly the judgment you’re hiring.

The bottom line

Build your feature count from the know-your-numbers lists, say it out loud in the first five minutes of a consultation, and you’ve done the triage that makes everything after it better. Simple cases deserve to be treated simply; complicated ones deserve to be spotted early. Both start with you knowing which you’re holding.