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Who Cares About Your Spending Before Bankruptcy?

By Cathy Moran

spending before bankrutpcy

Worried about using credit cards before bankruptcy? Afraid of prejudicing your bankruptcy case by spending money before you file? Do you imagine some authority figure deciding that your financial behavior in the run-up to bankrupcy bars you from relief? Take a deep breath. That’s not how it works. Let’s look at what matters and what […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 2024, 341, bankruptcy trustee, credit cards, first meeting

It Takes More Than Bankruptcy To Save Your House

By Cathy Moran

California homestead

Protecting your house from foreclosure ranks high on the list of reasons people file Chapter 13. The automatic stay stops foreclosures; Chapter 13 gives you time to fix the problem. Powerful stuff. But the stay and more time, alone, aren’t enough to save the day if you run afoul of other rules, written and unwritten, […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2018

How to get copies of your bankruptcy papers

By Cathy Moran

get bankruptcy papers

When you need to get copies of your bankruptcy papers, there’s a long line of people ready to rip you off. I mean, really rip you off. I’d list the companies prepared to overcharge you, but I don’t want to give them any more visibility than they already have. You may need to get bankruptcy […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

California’s Good Deed: Passing Real Property At Death

By Cathy Moran

property upon death

The horror stories about do-it-yourself estate planning are both plentiful and tragic. Between the fear of probate and the fear of legal fees, inventive people invent inexpensive strategies for passing property to the next generation. Adding someone to the deed is the most common one I see. It works like this: in order to see […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2017, estate planning

Means Test Expense Form 122A-2

By Cathy Moran

Get the form Here’s the link to the official form used by over-median income debtors to calculate the expense portion of the means test. Use this as a guide to the future expenses you expect to incur when assessing your eligibility for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Know that the calculation is not as straightforward as this […]

Filed Under: Means test

What Is The Bankruptcy Trustee Looking For

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy trustee and bank statements

What’s the bankruptcy trustee looking for when you submit your bank statements before the 341 meeting? Let me tell you what the trustee isn’t looking for: trustees don’t care if you bought the premium brand of coffee; paid for your kid’s sports team; fixed broken appliances; went on vacation; or bought concert tickets. No part […]

Filed Under: Before You File, Featured Tagged With: 2024, bankruptcy process, spending

When Bankrupting The Business Doesn’t Protect The Owner

By Cathy Moran

“I want to file bankruptcy for my business, but I don’t need a personal bankruptcy”. I’ve had 2 such calls to my law office in just the last week. And in each case, bankrupting the business corporation will not solve the debt situation. Here’s why. The underlying problem is that the individual owner is personally […]

Filed Under: Featured, Small business Tagged With: 2024, business bankruptcy, going out of business, owner liability

Why Bankruptcy Means Test Is Paper Tiger In Bay Area

By Cathy Moran

means test is paper tiger

Bankruptcy’s means test is a paper tiger in the San Francisco Bay Area. Really! You can see why few Bay Area residents are constrained by the means test when you compare the latest median income figures  used in the means test with the allowed cost of rental housing here. To review:  Congress  in 2005 tried to write […]

Filed Under: Means test, Strictly California Tagged With: means test

Bankruptcy Schedules Are More Than Just Paperwork

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy papers

Bankruptcy paperwork can make you feel like you are drowning in paper. There’s your paper; there’s the paper your lawyer needs.  And there’s the paper the court insists on. Why bankruptcy schedules worth the work It’s easy to try to skate. To cut corners.  To shut down. But that paper is critical. Nearly every question, […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2017, paperwork, schedules

Can You Get A Car Loan After Bankruptcy?

By Cathy Moran

car loan after bankruptcy

Wheels are essential for most of us to get to work. And whatever you’re driving when you file bankruptcy will need to be replaced at some point. So, how are you going to finance that next car if you’ve just filed bankruptcy and face 7-10 years with the bankruptcy on your credit report? The credit […]

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

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Bankruptcy Basics

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. We dig deeper into how to consider bankruptcy and navigate a bankruptcy case.

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

How Bankruptcy Works

Cheat Sheet For Passing Bankruptcy Means Test

The bankruptcy means test has a fatal weakness in its attempt to keep people out of bankruptcy. Like so much recently, it's health care. It's health care, in the future, to be paid before your creditors get any money in your bankruptcy. It works because, in a logic that only Congress could employ, the means … Read more

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