The 9th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel recently held that a Chapter 13 debtor engaged in business can not deduct necessary business expenses from gross receipts in determining current monthly income.  In re Wiegand, decided April 3, 2008, all but guarantees that small business chapter 13 debtors will be required to spend five years in a [...]

Popularity: 13% [?]

United States District Judge, Helen G. Berrigan, has scheduled oral argument of the appeal by Wells Fargo Bank in the Jones v. Wells Fargo case.  Argument is set for June 25, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. in Section “C” of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans.
The Appeal entitled:  [...]

Popularity: 15% [?]

Was that student loan discharged in bankruptcy, or wasn’t it? Two recent decisions leave the answer to that question in doubt. Hoxie v. Educational Credit Management Corporation (US Dist. SD California, November 13, 2006) and Mersmann v Educational Management Credit Corporation (US App 10th Circuit, September 24, 2007) threaten the financial security [...]

Popularity: 34% [?]

The Southern District Bankruptcy Court of Illinois sits along the east bank of the Mighty Mississippi River from a spot just north of St. Louis, Missouri to the southern most point in Illinois. Across the river and far across the state of Missouri is the Western District Bankruptcy Court of Missouri. Geography aside, [...]

Popularity: 22% [?]

In Drive Financial Services, L.P. v. Jordan  the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit was called upon to address whether changes made to the Bankruptcy Code by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) which gave greater rights to secured motor vehicle creditors superseded the decision of the United [...]

Popularity: 19% [?]

So who doesn’t get depressed when filing for bankruptcy protections?  Still, you need to be careful about holding onto your records.
In Lassman v. Keefe (In re Keefe), 380 B.R. 116 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2008), a builder incorporated his business.  He became depressed when he ran into difficult times and put all his records in a [...]

Popularity: 12% [?]

While paying a student loan outside a Chapter 13 plan may be an option in bankruptcy, student loan debt may help an above median debtor pass the means test and file a Chapter 7.   A monthly student loan payment is a valid additional circumstance allowing a debtor with above-median income to file for Chapter 7 [...]

Popularity: 32% [?]

In Minnesota, a person filing for bankruptcy and choosing to use the Minnesota exemptions has traditionally been allowed to keep 75 percent of wages owed to him or her on the day the bankruptcy was filed, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Section 550.37 subd. 13. It has been widely believed that this exemption applied only [...]

Popularity: 15% [?]

January 18, 2008, Jacksonville, Florida - A recent case out of the Jacksonville Division of the Middle District of Florida has held that neither 401k contributions nor 401k loan repayments are included in a Chapter 13 debtor’s disposable income, without regard to whether the debtor is above or below median income.
Despite a whole line [...]

Popularity: 35% [?]

Student loans made before 1998 were given new life by Congress when it eliminated the seven year discharge rule in 1998. The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit recently affirmed the right of Congress to modify discharge rules after the loan was taken out.
Prior to the change in 1998, a student [...]

Popularity: 45% [?]