When you sit down to pay your monthly bills, you may notice your paycheck does not go as far as it once did. This is not your mind playing tricks on you. In fact, according to reporting from Reuters, the U.S. Consumer Price Index has jumped more than 4% in just one year.
If you cannot afford rent, utilities, groceries and minimum credit card payments, it may be time to explore debt-relief options, such as a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. With Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you liquidate assets to pay back your creditors.
Animals are assets you must disclose
An early step in filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection is to inventory all your assets. This inventory is important, as it tells the bankruptcy trustee what is available for sale. Your dog is a disclosable asset, so you likely must list the animal on your financial disclosures.
Your dog probably does not have much value
Even though your dog is invaluable to you, it likely has little worth to the bankruptcy trustee. That is, unless you have a particularly valuable dog, like a pedigreed show winner, the cost of selling the dog probably exceeds any potential proceeds the animal would bring in.
Bankruptcy exemptions are available
If the small chance the bankruptcy trustee may sell your dog is too much for you to bear, you may have other options for keeping your furry friend. Specifically, your dog may fall within one of the many bankruptcy exemptions. If so, you can keep your pup.
Ultimately, because Chapter 7 bankruptcy poses little risk to your dog, you may not want to let fear of losing the animal keep you from eliminating your dischargeable debts.
