How does one qualify for a partial payment plan?

I'm not sure what that is. I have successfully filed thousands of bankruptcies, and I have never heard that term. You would be better served by meeting with an experienced BK lawyer so he or she can review your situation fully, and spell out all of your options. Any lawyer worth his or her salt will have a small charge for a face to face meeting. You don't want a "free" consultation, since those meeting are very (very) brief, and there may be no time for your questions. A serious lawyer will meet with you for an hour and thoroughly review all of your options with you. Good luck!

In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, your payments are determined by subtracting your reasonable living expenses from your income. If that amount will only pay a faction of your debts, then you have a partial payment plan.

Are you referring to a chapter 13 bankruptcy filing? The best way to get accurate and reliable information about what your options are and how they would work for you is to schedule a consultation with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer. Most of us offer at least a brief no-cost initial consultation.

I have no idea what the phrase partial payment plan means to you. The chapter 13 program often results in people paying a small amount of their debt over 5 years, and at the end of the 5 year period, the rest of the debt is completely eliminated. To analyze how this might work in your situation would require a review of the amount of your debt, the type of your debt, and the money you have available to pay debt. For example, I commonly represent people who have large tax debt, so the payments made in the chapter 13 program are allocated towards repaying this debt first. Other creditors may be paid a little or nothing at all.

First things first. Retain an experienced bankruptcy lawyer who can review all the relevant facts an explain the law and procedures to you. By 'partial payment plan,' (which is not a term we usually use), I assume you mean a Chapter 13 Plan, which can last 36 to 60 months. The payment into the Plan is calculated using some fairly complicated measurements (or 'algorithms') that help determine how much you 'disposable monthly income' is. That's what goes into the Plan, generally. Certain claims must be paid in full; but most general, unsecured claims, get paid what's left. That could be 1%, or 10%, or in rare cases 100%. Find a good lawyer, and it should all work out. Good Luck.

If you are referring to filing chapter 13 restructure repayment plan, the amount of the payment is driven by three different criteria. Disposable income, non-exempt assets - although most debtors don't have any, and any debts that are secured by collateral that you wish to keep or priority unsecured debt that must be paid off during the plan. All of these are loaded with caveats and considerations. I cannot walk you through a chapter 13 analysis, however there are many books on the subject. There are some self help books you can check out, like Nolo Chapter 13, which may be available at your local library. There are also practice guides from various publishers, like CEB, NCLC, which are likely available at your local law library. Since the success rate in chapter 13 without an attorney is less than 2%, the safest route is to research local bankruptcy attorneys who have solid chapter 13 experience and hire that person to handle the case. They will complete the analysis and walk you through the results distilling the information down to your particular circumstances.