How Are Some Ways Bankruptcy Can Affect Your Children?
STRESS: Being deep in debt, receiving harassing calls from creditors, being threatened with garnishment, repossessions and foreclosure will often cause you and your spouse to experience overwhelming stress and anxiety. Your children, even young ones, also feel the stress. It affects their school work and their emotional and physical health Uncontrolled debt often leads to […]
Can Bankruptcy Be A New Day?
I’ll admit that most of my clients never wanted to come see me. Most of my clients are embarrassed by the fact that they even have to ask about filing bankruptcy. Struggling with debt is hard and it can literally suck the life right out of you. For most, it seems like the end of […]
Will Bankruptcy Kill A Zombie Deed?
A Zombie Deed is a piece of real estate that you thought was gone, foreclosed, lost forever and no longer yours, but to your dismay, you find that you still own the property long after you thought it was gone. For example, you know you have missed mortgage payments and you know that your mortgage […]
What Are Two Things I Should Not Do Before Filing For Bankruptcy?
I see people make many mistakes when filing for bankruptcy. It could be in their paperwork or it could be failing to plan appropriately. Here are the top two things that people do wrong when filing for bankruptcy protection. Using Your IRA, 401K or other Qualified Retirement Plan. Bankruptcy exemptions protect your IRA, Inherited IRA, […]
Can You Cancel or Annul Your Bankruptcy Filing?
The short answer to this question is “no,” you cannot cancel your bankruptcy filing and somehow undo the process. You may be able to dismiss your case, or your case may be dismissed by the court, but a dismissal is not the same thing as undoing the process. In other words, you cannot annul your […]
Does it Make a Difference if I File Bankruptcy Before the End of the Month?
If your income is above the median income for your household size, you must complete a “means test” when you file your bankruptcy petition. To determine whether you are above or below the median income, your gross income for the six month period prior to the month you file bankruptcy is considered. So if you […]
Should I Be Worried About Going To My Meeting of Creditors?
After you file a bankruptcy case, you are required to attend a meeting of creditors. This is scheduled for about a month after your petition is filed, and is usually the only appearance you will need to make during the bankruptcy process. Your attorney should prepare your bankruptcy petition and schedules with plenty of attention […]
Bankruptcy Won’t Stop the Calls?
This is NOT true. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The minute you file bankruptcy, the Bankruptcy Court issues an order telling all of your creditors to leave you alone. No more phone calls. No more collection letters. No more lawsuits. No garnishments. No repossessions. No foreclosures. Nothing. No actions whatsoever against […]
What is the Wild Card Exemption?
There exists something referred to as the “wild card” exemption. This is a very useful exemption and what allows most bankruptcy debtors to keep all their property. Section 522(d) of the Bankruptcy Code states, in relevant part: The following property may be exempted […] (1) The debtor’s aggregate interest, not to exceed $22,975 in value, […]
Are There Any Federal Bankruptcy Insurance Exemptions?
There are two main federal bankruptcy exemptions for “unmatured” insurance contracts; 11 U.S.C. § 522(d)(7) and (d)(8): (7) Any unmatured life insurance contract owned by the debtor, other than a credit life insurance contract. (8) The debtor’s aggregate interest, not to exceed in value $11,525 less any amount of property of the estate transferred in […]