Say you get a tax bill from your state, or municipality, for owning a motor vehicle or other personal property excise tax (BUT NOT REAL ESTATE PROPERTY TAXES !!!).  These excise tax bills reflect the government having “assessed” a tax on you, which means nothing more than a decision on what you owe it.  That [...]

Over the past few days, I have written two posts about special problems that arise when an MLM distributor seeks to file bankruptcy.  In the last post I spoke about the presumption of abuse problem that could arise if an MLM distributor filed a Chapter 7 immediately after losing his commission stream due to a [...]

A few days ago, I wrote Part I of a series entitled Bankruptcy and the MLM Distributor.  In that post I described my typical MLM distributor as an entrepreneurial, motivated businessperson who worked full time on his MLM business and ran into debt problems because of a sudden or unexpected change in his compensation plan, [...]

Death of the parent or dependent student discharges the obligation to pay a Federal Parent Plus student loan.  Most people learn the hard way that student loans are difficult if not impossible to discharge in bankruptcy.  The seminal case, In re Bruner, has been discussed on this site.
(Brunner v. New York State Higher Education Services [...]

Over the past couple of years I have met with several potential clients who were in the MLM (multi-level-marketing) business and were looking to file (Chapter 7) bankruptcy.   Recently I spent a good 45 minutes on the phone with another potential client in the MLM business and this conversation got me thinking about the issues [...]

Student loans are not discharged in a bankruptcy proceeding unless repayment of the loan will create an undue hardship for the debtor or the debtor’s dependents.  The bankruptcy code prevents student loan discharge in most cases.
Many courts, including the Oregon bankruptcy court, have adopted a test formulated in 1987 by the Court of Appeals for [...]

Over the past couple of years I have met with several dozen remodeling contractors to discuss bankruptcy.  Like many places, the Atlanta area has experienced a downturn in home building and home renovations and building contractors of all sizes have suffered greatly.
Clients and potential clients in this profession range from the one man contractor who [...]

Although filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy usually wipes the slate clean as far as most of your debts are concerned, there are some debts that may not be discharged. 
Certain debts, such as most taxes, child or spousal support, and student loans usually survive the Chapter 7 discharge.  Debts incurred through fraud, may also survive the discharge.  And in [...]

Filing  Chapter 7 bankruptcy will stop collection efforts of your creditors, however that relief may be temporary if your debts are of the kind that are not discharged in bankruptcy.
Some debts, like student loans, child support, many taxes, and a few others, are not discharged by bankruptcy.  However you may experience some relief from their collection for [...]

My client’s business corporation is long dead and he’s back to working for others.  But six quarters of unpaid corporate payroll taxes  not only become his  personal debt, but a  tax that is never dischargeable in bankruptcy and a priority claim which must be paid in his Chapter 13 case.
It is so tempting for the [...]