It’s tax time and the hunt goes on for tax deductions to lower your income tax hit. Tax deductions lurk in the most unlikely places. If your Chapter 13 plan is catching up home loan arrears, look at your trustee’s annual report for some deductible mortgage interest. Most likely, the lender’s filed proof of [...]
Cathy Moran, California Bankruptcy Lawyer
The mail carrier brings a envelop with official looking papers that name you in a law suit. It says something about U.S. Bankruptcy Court. So what? you think. It’s not official til I’m served with papers by a human being. Due process and all… Think again. One of the unique features of Title 11 is [...]
Somewhere in our recent past, the holiday season became the shopping season. Lots of people in financial trouble hang on through the holiday season before taking up bankruptcy as part of the New Year. (I haven’t seen many people give themselves a bankruptcy filing for Christmas, though, for many, it would be objectively the best [...]
Unlike red wine, the information you provide a bankruptcy lawyer does not improve with age. Bankruptcy information is far more like fish: no longer palatable after it sits for a while. A bankruptcy filing is a snapshot of the client’s situation on the day the case is filed. From the point when the case is [...]
Spend money, when you’re broke, to go broke? Seems counter-intuitive, but it could be the best money you spend. Fear, pride, uncertainty, stubbornness, distraction, and cash flow keep people from getting their financial life in order with a bankruptcy filing. As a means of regaining control of your life and your pocketbook, however, it may [...]
Anti debtor attitudes in the “reformed” bankruptcy law make Chapter 13 resemble debtor’s prison, claims my BLN colleague Carmen Dellutri. Let me counter that being in debt is itself debtor’s prison, and if the escape route out of debt has some rough spots, it’s still better to end up debt-free through Chapter 13. As a [...]
