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What Happens to My Tax Rebate if I File Bankruptcy? »

Congress has passed a stimulus package which will offer most taxpayers a tax rebate. Most of us are supposed to receive the rebate by May of this year. But how will that affect you if you file bankruptcy?
If you liked that post, then try these…Northern District of New York Bankruptcy Judge Says [...]

Consumers Can Still File Bankruptcy, Dallas Morning News Reports »

Although the mainstream media has recently been full of reports on subprime mortgage lending, credit crisis, and the housing market woes, that same reports often overlook the obvious solution to some of those problems for consumer–bankruptcy relief. As Peter Orville noted, so-called money experts often fail to mention Chapter 13 as an option to [...]

When Your Chapter 13 Is Finished »

Completing a Chapter 13 Plan is quite an accomplishment for anyone, and it’s something to be proud of, no matter the circumstances. I recently discovered that one of my clients had not only completed her Chapter 13 Plan payments (which totaled more than $1000 per month for 60 months) but that she had never [...]

Preparing Your Chapter 13 Budget–Part Three »

In Part One and Part Two, we looked at the importance of budgeting in Chapter 13s, and the use of historical data to project future expenses. But what if your historical expenses don’t really help you project future expenses?
Every once in a while, I meet someone who has been through such extreme financial hardship that [...]

Preparing Your Chapter 13 Budget–Part Two »

In Part One, I discussed the importance of preparing a thorough and accurate budget in a Chapter 13 case, and considered the possibility that underestimating expenses may be at least part of the reason for a high failure rate in Chapter 13s in my district. But how do you prepare a budget?
If you liked that [...]

Preparing Your Chapter 13 Budget–Part One »

In a recent discussion among some colleagues here in South Carolina concerning the new IRS standards for living expenses, there was general agreement that the IRS standards for things like food, utilities and household expenses are higher than actual expenses reported by most of our clients.
One of the group remarked that maybe the reason so [...]

Chapter 13 Rules and Procedures Vary from District to District »

If you have read anything at all about bankruptcy, you probably know that bankruptcy laws are federal. That means that the way the law is applied is uniform all across the country, right? Whether you live in New York, California, Wyoming or Georgia, bankruptcy laws will be just the same, won’t they? Well, maybe not.
For [...]

Is Bankruptcy the Right Decision? »

There is no “right” way to determine whether bankruptcy is the right decision. There are as many approaches to making that decision as there are people considering the question. But I have learned through discussions with colleagues, and through this blog (and others of similar ilk) that most of us take a similar [...]

Flexibility of Chapter 13 Plans »

One of the really cool things about restructuring your debt in Chapter 13 is the flexibility to respond to changing circumstances along the way. Most of my clients are in a Chapter 13 for four to five years, and a lot can change in that time.
Think back–when was the last time you went five years [...]

The Right Time to Visit a Bankruptcy Lawyer is Now »

I took a holiday today, and stayed home to build and decorate a gingerbread house with my seven-year-old (which I highly recommend, by the way, but be warned–royal icing really is like cement). I got a phone call from my assistant, to update me on office matters, and she told me about a phone [...]