With the passage of the new bankruptcy laws in October, 2005, all debtors must now calculate current monthly income, which is a legal term of art under the new Bankruptcy Code. In a nutshell, current monthly income is the average monthly income for the previous 6 months preceding the Bankruptcy Filing Date. For w-2 employees, [...]

Post-filing earnings, minus reasonable living expenses, in Chapter 13 is property belonging to the creditors.  This can include tax refunds.
I used to counsel my clients to decrease their withholdings, which increases net pay and reduces the tax refund.  I came to realize that, by and large, my clients needed the forced savings which a tax [...]

Effective September 10, 2008, are the new Chapter 7 Trustee Guidelines for the Southern District of California Bankruptcy Court.  While not mandatory, failing to follow these guidelines will almost always result in having the case called at the end of the 341 Calendar, and hearing continuations.

The time to challenge a debtor’s chapter 7 discharge for abuse is counted from the date of the first meeting of creditors, the Kansas District Court ruled on appeal.  See In re Close, Case No. 07-2076-JAR, Bankruptcy case No. 06-20195-7, Turner UST v Close, (2008).
Judge Julie A. Robinson said the U.S. Trustee was too late when it [...]

Okay, the debtor in a bankruptcy case can’t really fire the chapter 7 trustee, even if the trustee is annoying or is engaging in troublesome litigation with the debtor.  After all, the reason the court appointed the chapter 7 trustee is to maximize, within the limits of the law, the return of money from the [...]

When you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, all of your assets become “property of the estate.”  That means that control over those things passes to the trustee assigned to your bankruptcy.  Basically, the purpose of this rule is to allow the trustee to administer the property and sell anything worth more than your exemptions to [...]

Consumer credit issuers have to tell you who they share your information with and how you can stop it.  Every year.  Hate junk mail?  Hate calls offering to sell you more credit or insurance or other junk you don’t want?  Pay attention to those privacy notices!
Every year, you will get a notice of some kind [...]

They say lawyers have no sense of humor, that we’re all dry and boring.  Though that may be so, let it never be said we don’t like good music.  Of course, the fact that it’s Norah Jones singing about our sinking economy makes it pertinent to this blog.
Enjoy.

New York bankruptcy lawyers know that our bankruptcy trustees never have to deal with the headache of a bounced check.  Why?
Because our Chapter 13 trustees accept only money orders or certified funds for Chapter 13 Plan payments.
Chapter 13 trustees in other parts of the country are accustomed to automatic wage deductions, and yet others allow [...]

In most bankruptcy courts a Chapter 13 debtor is not allowed to borrow money without the court’s permission, based either on a court order or local rule.  This tradition has existed in most places for as long as anyone can remember.  Why?
It may come as a surprise to most people but the Bankruptcy Code does [...]