A question that often arises in the context of bankruptcy preparation has to do with debts owed to family members or close friends. What happens if you repay your brother/sister/mother/father the $2,000 that was loaned to you six months ago? What about a repayment to a friend or employer?
The Bankruptcy Code addresses the [...]

If you are like most bankruptcy debtors, the difficult decision to seek legal counsel about filing a case may be months in the making. In an effort to avoid bankruptcy, you may be considering any number of non-bankruptcy options, including informal payment plans, refinancing of your house or borrowing funds from friends or relatives. [...]

Unfortunately, this can be a complicated question with no clear answer, and the answer you get definitely depends upon where you live.  Therefore, I strongly urge anyone with this issue to contact a bankruptcy or consumer lawyer in your area.  Rather than getting into legal intricacies with this post, let me just briefly tell you what [...]

One of the few debtor friendly changes to the Bankruptcy Code made last year was increased protection for retirement savings. Prior to October, 2005, the bankruptcy exemptions in the Code protected IRA’s “to the extent necessary for the support of the debtor”. Traditional pensions and 401(k) plans were absolutely protected because the anti [...]

This article from Sign On San Diego is a terrific resource on avoiding a foreclosure rescue scam. As we discussed in a recent post, there are unscrupulous companies that prey on people facing foreclosure. It’s important to always try to think as clearly as possible when facing the loss of your home, and [...]

One of the basic concepts in bankruptcy is that a lien ( the legal interest of a creditor in a particular asset) passes through the bankruptcy proceeding unchanged, unless the judge makes an order otherwise.
The bankruptcy discharge eliminates the personal liabibility of the person who filed bankruptcy. After the bankruptcy discharge, the creditor with [...]

The term “debt relief agency” appears in a legal context for the first time in the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 [The Act]. The first chapter of this new bankruptcy law can be found at Title 11 U.S.C. 101. This is the General Provisions chapter and it contains definitions of words [...]

The “old” bankruptcy law lives on within the new bankruptcy laws, but with major changes to how people file and some of it’s benefits.Some legal benefits that were available under the old law are not available under the new law. New forms are required, along with more detailed documentation. The requirements under the [...]

The simple answer is that, though you are allowed to file bankruptcy without your spouse, you may not choose to do so. The choice is yours.Your bankruptcy may affect your spouse. In some situations, there is no harm to the non-filing spouse. In others, the benefits to one spouse filing outweigh [...]

Many times people who are preparing for bankruptcy are confused about assets which are not theirs alone, or which have not been put in their name yet. An example which comes up often is where a relative dies and leaves property to either one person or a group of relatives. The property is [...]