May 21
You may hear the term “adversary proceeding” and wonder what that is all about. An adversary proceeding is a lawsuit within a bankruptcy. Most of bankruptcy is an administrative matter. The trustee administers the assets by converting them to cash, usually by selling them, and then determining who is owed what and making a distribution […]
Apr 26
Several posts back, I questioned the wisdom of using online will and trust forms, or the celebrity will and trust devices (like the Suze Orman documents). Here’s a story out of New York in case you’re still convinced that you don’t need a lawyer to prepare your will. Harry Wu served as one of two […]
Apr 21
You may have heard of a family limited partnership, or FLP, as an estate planning device. A FLP is just a limited partnership formed for the benefit of family members. Limited partnerships have several benefits over general partnerships, the greatest of which is that limited partners are shielded from liability beyond the extent of their […]
Apr 19
You hear it on the radio or even late-night TV informercials: “Don’t file bankruptcy; settle your debt for pennies on the dollar. Call us — we know the secrets the credit card companies don’t want you to know.” Some of them even tell you that you have the “right” to settle for less. Do these […]
Mar 25
On March 23 the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion in a bankruptcy case that, in essence, says creditors need to read their mail. The case is United Student Aid Funds, Inc. v. Espinosa. Justice Thomas delivered a unanimous opinion. The facts are fairly simple. Espinosa had several student loans that totalled […]
Mar 19
Toyota has recalled thousands of vehicles for accelerator problems. Now Honda has recalled over 400,000 vehicles for brake problems. With all of those recalls, it’s certain that some owners of the recalled cars are contemplating filing or have filed bankruptcy. In the case of Toyota, a few lawsuits seeking class action status for those involved […]
Mar 2
Taxes are a fact of life, whether they are income tax, sales tax, property tax, or a tax on gasoline. We grumble about paying taxes, but accept them. Why, then, is the estate tax so controversial? For starters, because Congress waffles back and forth about eliminating it. The estate tax was scheduled, in 2001, to […]
Feb 17
If you thought death and taxes were bad, wait until you try bankruptcy and taxes. When you file bankruptcy, there is an estate created, which consists of all your property and all your debts at the instant you file. Included in that is taxes that you might later owe for income earned up to the […]
Jan 20
In the last estate planning post, I noted that Congress had failed to extend the estate tax, and this was creating all sorts of uncertainty for planners in 2010. The uncertainty doesn’t end with what might be done in the future. The repeal of the estate tax could throw a monkey wrench into existing estate […]
Jan 15
Since the passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act in 2005, timing a bankruptcy filing has become more important than ever. First is the means test, which we have discussed previously. The means test looks at a debtor’s income over the past six months, so if you received a big bonus in the […]
