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The automatic stay is an order issued upon the filing of your petition that orders creditors to cease all collection activities against you. From the second this stay is issued, you are protected by federal law from creditors trying to collect from you. If you have previously filed a bankruptcy case, some restrictions may apply.

Under Chapter 13, all consumer debt cosigners are protected by the courts. Under Chapter 7, they are not, and creditors may try to collect the debt from the cosigner. You may, however, sometimes keep the cosigned debts and make the contract payments so that the creditor will not try to collect from the cosigner.

Under Chapter 13, you pay most back taxes, without interest, under your plan. Under Chapter 7, secured taxes, such as property taxes, cannot be discharged. Some unsecured taxes, such as income taxes, may be discharged if the taxes are more than three years old, you filed timely, there was no fraud, and the taxes were assessed more than 240 days from the filing of the case.

As soon as you file a bankruptcy petition with the court, it becomes illegal under the automatic stay for creditors to even attempt or continue to garnish your wages or bank accounts.