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Real-world Values for Assets Critical in Bankruptcy World

By Cathy Moran

asset value

Valuing your assets when filing out your bankruptcy schedules can be challenging. After all, what is a closetful of clothes or a garage full of tools worth? You are tempted to ask: why does it matter? Asset value matters in several different contexts in a bankruptcy case. Using the wrong measure of value or over-estimating […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

Will recent credit card use sink my bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

credit-cards-sink-case

If I’ve used credit cards before filing bankruptcy, do I have to wait? Too many people considering filing think there is some sort of waiting period between financial activity and filing bankruptcy. So, let’s look at the issues in play surrounding recent credit card charges and seeking bankruptcy relief. There’s no 90 day rule Everyone […]

Filed Under: Featured, How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2024, 90 day rule, bank statements in bankruptcy, trustee examination

What You Can Do With Money Before Filing Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

spending before bankruptcy examined

Worried that a bankruptcy judge or trustee is going to scour your spending before bankruptcy, looking for behavior that would disqualify you from bankruptcy relief. It’s not so. Yet there seems to be real anguish that “they” are going to toss your case out of bankruptcy court because of some “fault” in how you’ve handled […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

Will I Get a Discharge in My Bankruptcy Case

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy discharge

Getting a bankruptcy discharge is what almost all cases are about. So the question of whether or not you’ll get a discharge looms large in Chapter 7. The short answer is that if you are eligible for a discharge, you’re almost certain to get a discharge. Eligibility, in this context, looks at whether you’ve gotten […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2023

California drivers score huge bankruptcy win

By Cathy Moran

car after bankruptcy

California law, effective January 1, 2023, will assure those who file bankruptcy that they can keep their car as long as they stay current on payments. No longer does a debtor have to give up their discharge as to the car lender to be sure of keeping the car. The same bill, SB 1099, increases […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2022, california exemptions, keep and pay, reaffirmation, ride-through

What The Fool Got Wrong About Filing Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

should I file bankruptcy

The famous poem begins, “how do I love thee? let me count the ways”. But what if it’s not love that we are counting, but loathing? Let me count the ways I loathe the Motley Fool’s article asking should I file bankruptcy? The Fool’s underlying assumption is that people in debt flock to bankruptcy as […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 2018

The Tortoise Is The Mascot Of Retirement Savings

By Cathy Moran

Every campaign needs a logo. Make the logo of your retirement 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: Featured Tagged With: asset protection, exemptions, retirement

Time Runs Out For Claiming A Tax Refund

By Cathy Moran

last minute bankruptcy

Did you know there’s a deadline for claiming a tax refund. If you are entitled to a tax refund for an old tax year but haven’t filed the return yet, time’s running out. If you are more than three years late in filing your tax return, you forfeit any tax refund that you would otherwise […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes Tagged With: 2022, tax refund, unfiled tax returns

Everyone gets the $1M + bankruptcy exemption

By Cathy Moran

IRA safe in bankruptcy

Bankruptcy exemptions vary from state to state, but everyone gets an exemption of ~$1.75 M for money in an IRA. It’s part of the Bankruptcy Code (section 522(n)) that applies to all filers, wherever they live. The exemption covers both classic, before-tax IRA’s and Roth IRA’s that are funded with after-tax dollars. Roll-overs into an […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 2024, exemptions, IRA, retirement

At Risk of Repossession? How To Keep The Car & Pay Less

By Cathy Moran

car repossession

If you are one of the  7 million Americans late on your car payments and living in fear that your car will be repossessed, consider how Chapter 13 bankruptcy can save your wheels. Losing your car can accelerate a torrent of nasty financial consequences. No car, no way to work. No work, no income. So, […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2019, car loan, Chapter 13 car, Repossession

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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

How Much Is My Chapter 13 Payment

Intrigued by Chapter 13, but worried about how much your Chapter 13 payment might be? OK, let's walk through what your payment must be by law and what you want that payment to cover to get a fresh start. Part of the power of Chapter 13 is that you write the plan, with the help of your bankruptcy lawyer. Forget … Read more

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