I received this email from a prospective client named Amy. She raises an interesting question about identifying income for disclosure purposes: We are going to be filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and I have been selling some things on Amazon.com for 4 or 5 months now to help make ends meat. I have not reported it [...]
May 2007
There are five different kinds of bankruptcy cases: Chapters 7, 9, 11, 12. and 13. They are named after the chapters of the bankruptcy code book that contains the rules specific to that kind of bankruptcy. These five kinds of cases are divided into two different types of bankruptcy cases: 1) Straight/Liquidation – Chapter 7 [...]
Along with the national surprise of increased monthly mortgage payments due to the expiration of teaser ARM rates, many new home buyers in Michigan get an added jolt to the pocketbook. Usually undisclosed by realtors and mortgage companies, property tax bills can jump 100% or more in the first year.
As of October 17, 2005, each debtor filing a new chapter 7 or chapter 13 voluntary bankruptcy case must comply with Section 111 and Section 727 in order to receive a discharge of debts. Commonly known as the “Financial Management” requirement, these sections require that a debtor must complete an instructional course in personal financial [...]
A client asked me recently whether he should borrow from his 401k plan to settle his credit card debts, or file bankruptcy. Like many such questions, the answer depends on circumstances, but these are some factors to consider:
Everyone’s fear with filing bankruptcy: I will lose my house/car/retirement/bank accounts. (Second only to: I will lose my pride.) There are two lists of what one can protect. The protections are called “exemptions,” and the two lists are the federal exemptions and your home state’s own exemptions (but sometimes its your previous home state; that’s [...]
