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Search Results for: exemption planning

The Secret Bankruptcy Exemptions

By Cathy Moran

Exemptions in bankruptcy are all about what you keep. Exemptions define the collection of assets and rights that are safe from the reach of a bankruptcy trustee or your creditors. But planning exemptions in a bankruptcy case is more than just the looking down the list of things you keep through bankruptcy and the dollar amount […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

Does Bankruptcy Bar Retirement Savings?

By Cathy Moran

retirement contributions

Ongoing retirement saving by Chapter 13 debtors has been a touchy subject since the means test became a part of the bankruptcy scene. The means test was intended to squeeze every available dollar from consumer debtors. It works by limiting the expenses that can be deducted from income in figuring what a debtor can/must pay […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Developing law, Featured Tagged With: 2020, means test, retirement

Keep Your Tax Refund Through Your Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

keep tax refund

For most of us, finding out that we are getting a sizable tax refund is great news. But if you’ve recently filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, hold your celebration. That refund may not be yours. You have a bankruptcy estate When you file bankruptcy, all of your assets become a “bankruptcy estate”.  The estate includes […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes

How To Spend Money Before Filing Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

checks float before bankruptcy

Trying to spend down cash before filing bankruptcy? It’s time to talk about the float. Not the root beer float, though that would be more fun. The bank “float”:  the period between writing a check and it clearing your bank. (We’ll talk about what to spend on before filing bankruptcy, too). When you file bankruptcy, […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

Who To Pay After Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

bills after bankruptcy

You’ve filed bankruptcy. Your creditors are stayed. A bankruptcy discharge is ahead. You’re out from under unrelenting pressure to pay creditors. But don’t let your sense of relief keep you from planning:  who should you pay now that you’re in bankruptcy? Paying bills after filing bankruptcy Two legal realities drive who needs to be paid […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2016, after bankruptcy

Means Test As Three Dimensional Chess

By Cathy Moran

means test

Means test issues in bankruptcy extend far beyond how much income you have. The allowable expense deductions for your life after filing bankruptcy count, too. After an hour long initial consultation with a client, these complexities became clear when the client tagged the means test with incredible clarity. It’s like playing three dimensional chess Pretty […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Featured Tagged With: 2018

Keep Your Tax Refund Despite Filing Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

Bankruptcy and your tax return

Usually, we’re touting pre bankruptcy planning:  know what’s exempt, what debts will survive bankruptcy, and arrange your affairs to lose as little as possible to a bankruptcy trustee. There’s one bit of tax and bankruptcy planning that you can do after you file bankruptcy.  That’s despite the fact that bankruptcy is generally a snapshot of […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

The Tortoise Is The Mascot Of Retirement Savings

By Cathy Moran

Every campaign needs a logo. Make the logo of your financial planning a turtle, rampant. Rampant, you say?  Turtle? In the Middle Ages, knights put their ID’s on their shields in  elaborate heraldry that told bystanders who he was, what his birth order was, and which side of the blanket he was born on. Heraldry featured animals, […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

Terminate Cell Phone Penalties in Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

I’m accustomed to advising those on the verge of filing bankruptcy about big ticket debts like mortgages, student loans, and back taxes. I was surprised when a client, resigned to letting her house go to foreclosure after the bankruptcy, was absolutely delighted to know that she could free herself from her unhappy relationship with Verizon Wireless […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works, True Stories

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About The Soapbox

You've arrived at the Bankruptcy Soapbox, a resource of bankruptcy information and consumer law.

Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said "try").

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions on how I think law should work for the consumer and small businesses when it comes to debt.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

High Income Earners Pass Bankruptcy’s Means Test

ALERT:   Being above the median income on the means test is not an automatic bar to filing bankruptcy I'm so used to railing against deliberate campaigns of misinformation about bankruptcy that I forget that there's a lot of innocent ignorance out there. Start with "qualifying" for bankruptcy. A very … Read more

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