Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings often requires that a filer pay something every month to a trustee. The trustee distributes those payments according to a court-approved plan. Nothing in the Bankruptcy Code requires a minimum payment, a minimum dividend, to be paid to any general unsecured creditor such as like a credit card. They often get zero. The required payment [...]
bankruptcy
Perhaps the most significant change to the Bankruptcy Code that came out of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 ( BAPCPA) was the addition of what is referred to as the “Means Test.” The Means Test is a calculation based upon your income and allowed monthly expenses that is used to determine whether [...]
In 2010, the annual volume of new student loans reached 100 billion dollars. There is now more than a trillion dollars in student loan debt on the books and this type of debt is growing rapidly. A new economic crisis is about to emerge. Student loan debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy except under the [...]
We all know that individual tax returns are due on April 15 (or a day or two later if April 15 is on a weekend). But Congress inserted a little tax time craziness into sections 1308 and 1307 of the new and drastically unimproved Bankruptcy Code of 2005. Section 1308(a) states: (a) Not later than [...]
Bankruptcy! I don’t want to file bankruptcy! Hey, if you do want to file, there is something wrong with you. But you want to keep your house? Avoid foreclosure? Which option hurts more: losing your home, or, filing bankruptcy? We humans make decisions based on our emotions: we shy away (or run, if you are [...]
The debtor education course. It’s the second course required by the Bankruptcy Code–the ticket out of bankruptcy, at least if the debtor wants his discharge. I confess I’ve always wondered what my clients thought of the course. Calling it a “course” is a bit much. It only takes an hour or two, and there’s not [...]
