At least to some degree, your choice of type of bankruptcy is based on your income. Under new federal bankruptcy laws, Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings are limited to those debtors whose incomes are either below the median income for a family of that size living in that geographic area, or those debtors who do not have the means to reasonably pay off their debts. Therefore, as a practical matter, Chapter 7 bankruptcy is not an option for debtors whose income is over a certain income level. To the extent that such debtors still wish to pursue bankruptcy proceedings, they will be limited to filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings, which requires the repayment of at least a portion of their debts, as opposed to the complete discharge of debts available under Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings.