law

IRS to Chapter 13 Debtors: File Your Returns by February 5!

by Russell A. DeMott, Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer

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 [...]

Means Test and Attorney Fees

by L. Jed Berliner, Springfield, MA Bankruptcy Attorney

I wrote about attorney fees as a means test deduction some time ago.  BAPCPA’s provision, codified at section 707(a)(2)(A)(iv) of the Bankruptcy Code, says that priority claims are deducted from income.  Priority claims include a Chapter 13 debtor’s counsel’s fees.  See sections 507(2), 503(b)(2), and 330(a)(4)(B).  Therefore, our attorney fees are a means test deduction.  Oddly, the [...]

Filing Bankruptcy: Do I Have To Keep My Condo?

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

Colleague Dana Wilkinson calls it “foreclosure limbo.” You made the difficult decision, accepted reality, you cannot pay your debts, and, even filing bankruptcy, cannot keep your condo.  Or, like one of my clients, the condo you bought for your son’s family, which they could no longer pay. Whether in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or Chapter [...]

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The Truth About Lease Reaffirmation

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

    Leases are their own animal under the bankruptcy code. They are neither secured debt, nor unsecured debt. They get their very own schedule, schedule G. And the Bankruptcy Code provides that leases can be assumed or rejected. Rejection, as you might have guessed, means nope, not interested, take your leased property back, don’t [...]

The Truth About Chapter 11

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

You may run an incorporated, or, unincorporated, small business. A corporation that wants to keep operating has to file for Chapter 11 to get bankruptcy relief. Individuals may file also;  you do not have to be a corporation to file for Chapter 11. You may own and rent a bunch of houses, operate a store, [...]