Two different clients recently have approached bankruptcy’s means test and the good faith test in Chapter 13 like Momma Grizzlies. Their assumption was that anything they spent on their children was beyond question when it came to qualifying for bankruptcy. One single mother assumed that she was entitled to deduct from the means test her [...]
September 2010
Debt collection attorneys know that you cannot be thrown in jail if you do not pay your credit card debts. Debtor’s prisons were formally abolished in the United States in 1833, and, except for cases involving past due child support or tax debts, you will not face jail time if you are unwilling or unable [...]
As a bankruptcy lawyer, one of the first things I advise my clients to do when they decide they are filing bankruptcy and hire me is to stop paying on their credit cards. More on this later in the post. Recently, though, before I could offer that advice, a client asked me: “What happens when [...]
When you file bankruptcy, you should become acquainted with the phrase: Pigs get fat while hogs get slaughtered. It is a great phrase to live by, not only during bankruptcy but in everyday life as well. This phrase goes back to the basics of bankruptcy and life. Everything must be done in moderation. More specifically [...]
This afternoon, I appeared at a Section 341 meeting of creditors hearing with a married couple who I represent in a Chapter 13 case. One of the questions asked by the trustee had to do with mortgage payments – specifically, were the debtors current with their post-petition mortgage loan payments. In the Northern District of [...]
The U.S. Court of Appeals recently held that a bankruptcy attorney could be compelled to testify against his own clients in a case involving the conversion of nonexempt assets into exempt assets, a process commonly known as “exemption planning.” This case, In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 609 F.3d 909 (8th Cir. July 1, 2010), involved [...]
