No. While it is true that the Bankruptcy laws were changed significantly in October, 2005, the benefits of Ch. 7 ‘straight’ bankruptcy , and that of Ch. 13 ‘repayment Plan’ are both very much available. It is also true that the banking lobby spent literally millions of dollars to obtain these significant changes in the law, over 500 pages! Clearly, the intent of the changes was to make it more difficult and expensive for regular Americans and their families to choose to file a Ch. 7 or a Ch. 13 bankruptcy, but fortunately, the laws were not eliminated. In Ch. 7, for instance, we often hear potential clients exclaim that they make too much money and cannot qualify for a ‘straight’ Ch. 7, or said another way, that they must pay back their debts or file a Ch. 13 repayment plan. Many times this impression is not true. The ‘means test’, as it is called, is definitely structured to attempt to identify the ‘high income’ or perceived ‘abusers’ of the system, and in rare cases, it does what is intended. What is not commonly known by the general public is that this means test allows many ‘deductions’ from your income, much like a tax return, and after proper application of deductions, even those with higher income likely will pass the ‘test’. Similarly, in Ch. 13, the means test is also present, but it is used to determine who qualifies for Ch. 13 payment plan, what the payout to creditors shall be, and what the length of the Ch. 13 plan will be, as well. In any event, because of the confusion surrounding the ‘new law’, anyone considering Ch. 7 or Ch. 13 should seek out the assistance of competent counsel to assist in the proper presentation of the ‘means test’, along with the other requirements for a successful bankruptcy.