Using a Liquidation Proceeding to Terminate Your Mortgage Obligation Often, when you decide that a personal bankruptcy filing is your best option for getting your finances under control and getting a new start, you still want to keep your home. But what if that's not really in your best interests? What if the costs of keeping your home will be too … [Read more...]
Filing for Chapter 7 Protection When You Want to Keep Your Home
September 4, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Using a Personal Bankruptcy Proceeding to Keep Your House One of the most common factors leading to the decision to file for bankruptcy protection is the inability to stay current on mortgage obligations. If you're in over your head, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding can allow you to permanently discharge certain debts. That usually involves … [Read more...]
The Income Component of the Means Test in Chapter 7 Filings
August 31, 2019 by Leave a Comment
How the Bankruptcy Court Determines Your Eligibility Under the means test established by the 2005 revisions to the federal bankruptcy laws, the bankruptcy court will review potential Chapter 7 discharge petitions to determine whether the debtor has the means to repay creditors over a three-to-five-year period. Here's how the means test addresses … [Read more...]
Bankruptcy or Divorce—Which is the Chicken and Which the Egg?
August 24, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Which Should You Do First—File for Bankruptcy or Finalize Your Divorce? Far too often, the underlying cause of divorce is financial difficulty. Even if financial problems are not the cause of divorce, they can arise when you no longer have two incomes to pay for your lifestyle. If you are considering filing for divorce, or if you know that your … [Read more...]
The Quick and Easy Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Filing
July 24, 2019 by Leave a Comment
The Simplest Way to Reorganize Your Debts in Bankruptcy When you've determined that a bankruptcy petition is the best way to deal with overwhelming debt and get a fresh start, and you want to keep your property (if possible), your best option is a Chapter 13 reorganization. While such a filing will customarily take more time and effort than a … [Read more...]
Discharging Debts or Damages from Business Litigation
June 13, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Can You Permanently Rid Yourself of Debts Incurred in Commercial Lawsuits? In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, available to individuals and businesses, you can permanently wipe out certain obligations in exchange to transferring "non-exempt" assets to the bankruptcy court to partially satisfy creditors. What happens if you are a small business … [Read more...]
Credit Card Debt—Avoiding the Presumption of Fraud in Bankruptcy
June 4, 2019 by Leave a Comment
One of the common causes of consumer bankruptcy is unmanageable credit card debt. Because credit card debt is typically an unsecured obligation, you can generally discharge credit card arrearages in Chapter 7 without returning items purchased. However, if a creditor (credit card company) can show that you engaged in fraud when using the credit … [Read more...]
Your Bankruptcy Options When You Owe Money to an Ex-Spouse
May 24, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Should You Choose Chapter 7 or Chapter 13? Are you struggling to meet your financial obligations? Do your debts include family law obligations, such as child support or alimony arrearages? Have you considered be discharging or restructuring those debts could in a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 proceeding? Domestic Support Obligations Are Not … [Read more...]
Your Bankruptcy Options When Closing Down a Business
May 10, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Should You Seek Protection under Chapter 11 or Chapter 7 If you own or operate your own business, but you're struggling to make a go of it, you need to honestly assess your chances of long term success. The bankruptcy laws can help you wind down a business, allowing you to put most of the losses behind you. What's the best way to use bankruptcy … [Read more...]
What Happens to Jointly Owned Property When You Seek Protection in Bankruptcy?
April 22, 2019 by Leave a Comment
You have unmanageable debt and have concluded that the only way to move forward is file a personal bankruptcy petition. You may own property jointly with friends or other family members, including parents, children and others. Perhaps a family member co-signed for you or a parent added you to a bank account or deed as an estate planning tool. … [Read more...]
