Apr 29
The main point of a bankruptcy, at least from the debtor’s viewpoint, is to get a discharge of her debts. Most debts are dischargeable, but some are not. We’ve already talked about how taxes, except in certain cases, are nondischargeable. There are other debts that simply won’t go away in a bankruptcy. It’s important to […]
Apr 24
In the last post we talked about secured and unsecured creditors. Priority creditors are a third type, although they are either secured or unsecured as well. The word priority means that these creditors have priority in payments under the Bankruptcy Code. Section 507 of the Bankruptcy Code sets out the order in which claims are to […]
Apr 19
Creditors in bankruptcy generally fall into one of two categories, secured and unsecured. Today we’ll explain what each category means. Secured Creditors are creditors who hold security, or collateral, for their debt. This means that they can take that collateral and sell it to pay the debt. If there is a balance remaining after the […]
Apr 16
Today we’ll delve a little deeper into what Chapter 7 is. In the last post I said that Chapter 7 is for people who need to start over and that the general theory is that you turn your non-exempt property over to the trustee who sells it (liquidates it) and uses the money he gets […]
Apr 12
Once you’ve decided to file bankruptcy the next big decision is which chapter, Chapter 7 or Chapter 13? These are the two most common bankruptcies for consumers. Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 are also available (Chapter 12 if you’re a family farmer), but are less common than Chapter 7 or 13. Approximately 2/3 of all […]
Apr 11
Apart from the question whether bankruptcy is moral or ethical, a practical question is whether or not someone should file bankruptcy at all. That is a question that no one but the individual can answer. Two people in nearly identical circumstances might reach opposite conclusions about whether to file. In order to decide whether bankruptcy […]
Apr 10
Before filing bankruptcy a lot of people worry whether filing will be moral or ethical. Most people realize that bankruptcy is legal, but they question the morality or ethics of getting out of debt. After all, we are brought up being told that we should pay our debts. Bankruptcy can trace its roots back to […]
Apr 9
When Congress enacted the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (“BAPCPA” sometimes fondly called Bappa Crappa) it required all “Debt Relief Agencies,” that is, lawyers who do bankruptcy work, to tell potential clients that they don’t need an attorney to file bankruptcy. That wasn’t a new change in the law — anyone can represent […]
Sep 12
An article in today’s online Wall Street Journal addresses the question whether you should set up a trust for your pet. At first glance that may seem like a preposterous idea. But think about it. Many pets are practically family members. A pet is property, and will be treated as such in the eyes of […]
Aug 21
In law school we learned that when someone witnesses another person execute a will, the witness has to be in the “conscious presence” of the signer. We read cases about whether being in another room counts if the witness can see the signer as he or she signs the will. Of course way back then […]
