So you thought we were done with the Means Test? Ha! If you’re planning to file a bankruptcy case, it might be that you are behind in your payments under your mortgage. In that case, you can and should deduct the amount of money you’d have to pay to “cure” the default in your mortgage. [...]
March 2010
Sometimes the “Means Test” is called the “mean test”. Why? Congress seems to say that it cares a great deal how you spend your money but if you are already spending it paying your creditors, then everything is OK. Why is this so? Well, as a matter of policy, Congress decided that money you are [...]
The Means Test is so much fun when you are filing for bankruptcy. Last time, we talked about mechanical amounts, are allowances, which can be deducted from income under the means test. You don’t need to look at your own records or spending to figure out allowances in most cases. However, that’s not the case [...]
Incomplete notary acknowledgment can destroy a mortgage’s enforceability against third parties
QDRO: That nasty Qualified Domestic Relations Order that divvies-up a pension after a divorce. Bankruptcy: That other nasty procedure that may, or may not, get rid of all your debts. Okay, listen up. No bankruptcy can get rid of a family support order. Property divisions, including pension divisions, are different. Chapter 7 cannot discharge a property [...]
If your home is foreclosed, sold at a short sale, or if you give the home back to your lender in satisfaction of your debt, IRS Tax Fact 10 tells us to watch for a 1099-C or 1099-A statement in the mail during the next calendar year. Lenders are required to send the 1099 forms [...]
