Our last blog post introduced the rules about when newer Texas residents can use this state’s property exemptions. Exemptions protect your assets when you file bankruptcy. Today we expand on this. The Timing Rule In general, you can only use the exemption protections available to Texas residents once you have lived here for 730 days—two years. … [Read more...]

How it can help? By clearing the financial deck to let you focus on criminal defense costs and on your most important expenses and debts. Criminal fines, fees and restitution can’t be discharged (written-off) in any kind of bankruptcy case. But if you’re confronting a serious criminal charge or have already been convicted, bankruptcy can still … [Read more...]

Bankruptcy is all about giving you an honest fresh start. Here’s how the U.S. Supreme Court has put it: This Court has certainly acknowledged that a central purpose of the [Bankruptcy] Code is to provide a procedure by which certain insolvent debtors can reorder their affairs, make peace with their creditors, and enjoy “a new opportunity in life … [Read more...]

If you have financial obligations from your divorce or separation decree OTHER than to pay child or spousal support, those obligations may be dischargeable under Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The Diminishing and Confusing “Super-Discharge” Since the total overhaul of the nation’s bankruptcy laws way back in 1978, people filing for bankruptcy under … [Read more...]

Our last two blog posts have been about the all-important means test, so please look back at them for helpful background information. (Click on “BLOG” above — just below the top banner picture — and you’ll see our recent blog posts in reverse chronological order down the page.) A Summary of the Means Test The means test was designed to prevent … [Read more...]

Acting honorably towards a favorite creditor or two before filing bankruptcy can make you anything but their favorite. Paying Your Favorite Creditor Before Filing Bankruptcy Although bankruptcy law fixates on what you own and who you owe at the moment your bankruptcy case is filed, there are some important ways that the law can look into the … [Read more...]

Virtually all actions by creditors to collect the debts you owe are stopped the minute you file bankruptcy. Here are some special exceptions. The “Automatic Stay” The immediate stopping of collections—called the “automatic stay”—is one of the most important benefits of filing bankruptcy. It’s automatic because it is put into operation by the … [Read more...]

Bankruptcy is a legally and morally valid option for addressing your debts in an honest and realistic way. It gives consumers two primary choices—Chapter 7 “straight bankruptcy” and Chapter 13 “adjustment of debts”—along with other less common ones. Within those two, you usually have specific options about how to deal with certain creditors. … [Read more...]