Dairy farmers in Upstate New York are facing a crisis.  While the cost of milk at the grocery store continues to climb, the price dairy farmers receive has not.  Farmers are currently receiving $13.33 per hundredweight.  This is $4.25 below the cost of production in New York, even in the most efficient dairy farms.  Even the safety [...]

Your homestead exemption is one of the most important benefits you get when you file for bankruptcy.  It protects your residence.  In New York, you can protect up to $50,000 of equity in your home, $100,000 if you file together with your spouse.
You usually get to take the homestead exemption if the property is [...]

Diane Davis was sworn in as Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of New York, Utica Division on March 6, 2009. Judge Davis replaces Judge Stephen Gerling, who recently retired.  Judge Davis received her B.A. in Economics and German from St. Lawrence University in 1976 and her J.D. from Albany Law School in 1991. From [...]

A Central New York Bankruptcy Court ruled that Affordable Furniture Stores in Central New York must reopen to allow customers to pick up furniture that they had already paid for.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office had received three dozen complaints from people who had discovered the stores were closed in Syracuse, Utica, Rome and Watertown when [...]

Today, after 23 years as Bankruptcy Court Judge in the Northern District of New York, Utica Division, Judge Stephen D. Gerling retires from the bench.
Judge Gerling graduated from Niagara University in 1964 and received his law degree from St. John’s University in 1967. He served as a military police officer in Vietnam from 1968 [...]

It seems as though the requirement in the current bankruptcy law that a debtor must file all of their pay advices (pay stubs) with their bankruptcy petition is overly rigid.  Surely if you omit one pay advice, the bankruptcy judge will understand and overlook your omission, wouldn’t s/he?
The answer is a resounding NO.  Even the [...]

A recent case in the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court illustrates the importance of having a knowledgeable bankruptcy attorney, and telling him/her about ALL of your assets.
Brian Driskell cashed out his exempt retirement account, and gave $1,800 of it to his mother to hold for safekeeping.  Then he filed his bankruptcy petition in Judge Altenberger’s bankruptcy [...]

In The Sun Also Rises, one of the characters is asked, “How did you go bankrupt?” His response is “Gradually . . . then suddenly.”
In my bankruptcy practice I find that most clients echo those sentiments. It seems as if you go from being on top of the world to rock bottom overnight, doesn’t [...]

Chapter 13 Debtors pay their Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee each month.  The trustee’s office pays that money out to creditors in a manner that is directed through the order of confirmation.  Usually the trustee first pays administrative expenses, such as attorney fees, and secured creditors.  The secured creditors getting paid by the trustee often include mortgages, [...]

Until recently, it was unclear whether cash value in a life insurance policy was protected if a joint bankruptcy was filed in New York State.  Up until about a year or so ago, it wasn’t an issue.  The cash values of life insurance policies were seen as exempt as long as there was a beneficiary named [...]