Unusual situations often show up in bankruptcy court eventually. And sometimes they contain both humor and depression in equal measure. Recently the 8th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel was called upon to rule on whether a horse trailer could be a mobile home under Missouri law. The issue arose because the debtor who filed bankruptcy owned [...]
Wendell Sherk, Missouri Bankruptcy Attorney
Being in bankruptcy means remembering priorities. A big priority is keeping a roof over your head. As I have in the past, I will suggest that this is even more important than Christmas. If you have had to file bankruptcy, your budget is probably already tight. If you recently filed Chapter 7, you probably don’t [...]
Since the mortgage market collapsed, loan modifications to avoid foreclosure have become industry and government policy. Many people hope to modify their mortgages to avoid having to give up their homes and file bankruptcy. The process is deceptively simple to get involved in – and easy to get burned by, even if you are working [...]
The “family-friendly” Congress elected in 2004 did an odd thing in 2005 when they passed BAPCPA, the bankruptcy “reform” law. In the process of ignoring how the American family has evolved since “Father Knows Best” was a television mainstay, they encouraged the break-up of the indebted family. The Eighth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, in effect, [...]
Social Security Income is heavily protected from your creditors outside bankruptcy. And Congress has repeatedly emphasized that it should remain protected from creditors inside bankruptcy as well. An open question has remained, though. When a person files Chapter 13, one of the requirements is, generally, that their income — after their reasonable and necessary living [...]
Modern bankruptcy is largely a voluntary idea, a relief for those in need. The matching right to drop out of a case is less well recognized. This is true even in Chapter 13 where the right to dismiss your own case seems absolute. On the other hand, many courts have concluded the right to dismiss [...]
