Where should you file bankruptcy if you are about to move states?

By Peter Bricks , an Atlanta bankruptcy attorney.

I sometimes get calls from debtors who are interested in filing bankruptcy and have either recently moved into town or are planning moving away. The first thing they need to decide is whether they should file bankruptcy in Atlanta or wherever they plan on moving next.

Bankruptcy venue is dictated by 11 USC 1408. That code section says “a case under title 11 may be commenced in the district court for the district—(1) in which the domicile, residence, principal place of business in the United States, or principal assets in the United States, of the person or entity that is subject of such case have been located for the one hundred and eighty days immediately preceding such commencement, or for a longer portion of such one-hundred-and-eighty-day period than the domicile, residence, or principle place of business, in the United States, or principal assets in the United States, of such person were located in any other district.

Therefore, the first thing we need to decide is whether the debtor is even eligible to file in his current location. He might have just moved into town several weeks ago and is only eligible to file in the city he just moved from. He also might be eligible to file in two cities because his principal assets might be a different place than his domicile.

Once it’s been established whether the debtor is eligible to file at the moment in his current location, he should determine whether to do so makes sense. Take the example of the debtor who wishes to file Chapter 13 and is moving away in two weeks. Does that debtor want to establish venue in a place he will no longer live and then have to return for the meeting of creditors, confirmation hearing and other miscellaneous court hearings that might take place over the course of the case?

On the other hand, maybe the debtor cannot wait to file because he needs to immediately stop a garnishment or repossession.

Conversely, the Chapter 7 debtor in the same position might be more open to filing in the city he is leaving because he is likely to only need to make one court appearance in his case.

The point is there are a variety of factors the debtor should consider if he is changing residences, and he needs to think it through with a competent attorney and pick the right court to file the case.

Peter Bricks is a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. He has bankruptcy attorney offices in Atlanta, Woodstock, Dunwoody, Cumming and Jonesboro, Georgia.

Tags: Chapter 13, Chapter 7, venue