Bankruptcy is a federal court process designed to help consumers and businesses eliminate their debts or repay them under the protection of the bankruptcy court. Bankruptcies can generally be described as "liquidation" (Chapter 7) or "reorganization" (Chapters 13). Under a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you ask...
Bankruptcy can discharge income tax if certain conditions are met. One required condition is that returns must have been filed. Since tax law requires filing by a specific date, if not filed by that date any tax that is due will be exempt from discharge. The...
A chapter 13 bankruptcy is a plan to re-organize a debtor's liabilities and get a fresh start unburdened by mounting unsecured debt (credit cards, medical bills, etc.). Such a plan requires payments to a bankruptcy trustee. But how much are those payments? To a large degree...
After filing bankruptcy people are often interested in trying to rebuild their credit, and a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be a good first step to repairing your credit. The information contained in your credit report is important and that information must be...
The first step in a bankruptcy filing is to determine the debtor's income in relation to the Current Monthly Income for your state. Assuming the debtor is above that, the more complicated Means Test must be performed. The outcome of that test will determine either if...
An illegal immigrant can file for bankruptcy in the United States. There is no reference to a citizenship requirement in the Bankruptcy Law. US Code §109 provides the requirements to be a "debtor." The most common way to be eligible to be a debtor is...
We need to know all the debts you owe or might possibly owe in order to put a Bankruptcy case together. One mistake debtors often make as we get into deeper debt is to stop looking at the bills and notices. It's stressful enough to...
Bankruptcy can help in a lot of ways. One less well-known benefit is to free up a copy of a college transcript to use for employment or future school applications, when you can't afford to pay the college back right now. As of 2015, Americans owe...
Everyone with debts has at least one bill they'd like to pay, even if they can't pay them all. So if you are already filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy and repaying some debt, why not treat some better than others? Sometimes that is allowed and sometimes not....
Corporations and LLC's don't get a discharge in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, so what's the point of filing? Ensuring that business assets go to pay payroll, benefits, and taxes is a compelling reason. Chapter 7 is a liquidation proceeding; the trustee appointed by the court will...
