What Is a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Petition? How Is It Different from Chapter 7? As the pandemic continues, more and more of us find ourselves facing financial challenges. Maybe you lost your job or experienced a temporary layoff that put you behind on your bills. Maybe you lost weeks or months of work because you caught the virus. The bankruptcy … [Read more...]
Filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Texas
February 1, 2022 by
What Differentiates Chapter 7? What Can You Expect? The pandemic has concerns about more than our physical health...for many of us, it's put us in a precarious financial situation. Maybe our employer went out of business or had to downscale. We may have been out of work for a few weeks or months, putting us behind in house, car and other … [Read more...]
Staying Out of Trouble When You File for Bankruptcy
January 12, 2022 by
Things You Don't Want to Do before You File for Protection When you're struggling to meet your financial obligations, bankruptcy can be a godsend. With a Chapter 7 filing, you can permanently discharge certain debts, and, in Texas, you can usually keep most or all of your property. Even if you don't qualify for relief under Chapter 7, you can … [Read more...]
Bankruptcy and Divorce—When Should You File?
January 4, 2022 by
Which Proceeding Should Be Initiated First? You're struggling to meet your financial obligations and your marriage is falling apart…it's a fairly common occurrence. Financial difficulties are a common contributor to marital strife, and relationship woes can often take a financial toll. When it's clear that you need the protection of the bankruptcy … [Read more...]
Filing under Chapter 13 Instead of Chapter 7
December 8, 2021 by
Reasons to Choose a Reorganization over a Liquidation/Discharge There are two primary approaches to personal bankruptcy—the permanent discharge of certain debts under Chapter 7 in exchange for the transfer of unprotected assets to the bankruptcy court; or the reorganization/restructuring of personal debt in Chapter 13. With a Chapter 7, your debts … [Read more...]
Using Bankruptcy to Avoid Foreclosure
December 1, 2021 by
Can You Use Bankruptcy to Stop Foreclosure Proceedings? If So, How? You've lost your job because of the pandemic and you've fallen behind on your bills. You jump every time the phone rings, and you get nervous when the mail arrives, fearful that you'll have to talk to yet another creditor or read yet another threatening letter. You've missed a … [Read more...]
Should You File for Bankruptcy before You File for Divorce?
November 1, 2021 by
What Are the Pros and Cons of Filing a Bankruptcy Petition First? Because money problems are often a cause of marital strife, it's not uncommon for a person to be involved in a bankruptcy proceeding and a divorce proceeding within months of each other, or even simultaneously. If it's clear that your marriage has ended, but equally clear that you … [Read more...]
The Dismissal of a Bankruptcy Proceeding
October 21, 2021 by Leave a Comment
When Can It Happen and Why? You've lost your job, suffered an injury or illness, or taken a financial beating in a divorce, but you've concluded that your best path forward is a personal bankruptcy filing. Once you've filed, it's really just a matter of working through the process, right? Not necessarily—you need to be careful that you don't do … [Read more...]
Bankruptcy and Family Law Obligations
October 12, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Can You Use a Bankruptcy Filing to Manage Support Arrearages? The American bankruptcy laws were enacted to help people get a fresh start, to allow them to either discharge or restructure debt so that they could meet their financial obligations. What happens if one of your most significant arrearages is child or spousal support? Can you use the … [Read more...]
Keeping Your Car When You File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Protection
October 6, 2021 by Leave a Comment
The Automatic Stay | What If Your Lender Asks the Bankruptcy Court for Repossession? When you're struggling to make ends meet and have come to the conclusion that the best way forward is through bankruptcy, one of your first concerns will center on your property. With a Chapter 7 filing, you can permanently discharge or extinguish certain debts, … [Read more...]
