Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. When Newt Gingrich suggests that states need the right to file bankruptcy, he can be up to no good. Who benefits from states filing bankruptcy? The question is a matter of priorities. Fat cat Wall Street bondholders are scared witless about the possibility of their triple-A municipal bonds going south [...]
David Leibowitz, Illinois and Wisconsin Bankruptcy Attorney
Clients frequently ask whether they need a social security number to file bankruptcy. The answer is no. Let’s explain this. Nothing in the bankruptcy code requires that you have a social security number to file bankruptcy. Yet, the official bankruptcy forms ask for your social security number. Don’t use somebody else’s number. Don’t use a [...]
People frequently ask whether they can file a bankruptcy case without their spouse. The simple answer is yes. The complicated answer is that your spouse matters for several reasons. Let’s assume that you and your spouse are married and living together. Then you have one household. There are at least two of you and maybe [...]
When you file a bankruptcy case, you need to list all your stuff. That means all your stuff. That means at fair market value. That means don’t mess around. In particular, don’t mess around with the Bankruptcy Court in Texas. In a recent case, In re Peters, the debtor listed “Art” consisting of “six pictures” worth [...]
Even a rich and ancient institution like the Roman Catholic Church needs bankruptcy. On January 4, 2011 the Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed for protection in bankruptcy under chapter 11. Other Archdioceses around the United States have previously been forced to file for chapter 11 relief, including those in Portland, Oregon; Wilmington, Delaware; Tucson, Arizona; Spokane, [...]
The bankruptcy code give you limited protection against employment discrimination after bankruptcy. You can’t get fired from your existing job in the private sector. You can’t be discriminated against for a job in the public sector. But you could be excluded from consideration for a new job in the private sector. States have been responding [...]
