W is for Wait in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. As in “Wait! Wait! Don’t file yet.” Timing a bankruptcy can be critical. Sometimes, the bankruptcy journey begins, not with a mad dash to the courthouse, but with a short wait. Having made the decision to get out of debt, why would you wait? Many reasons, most of […]

    U stands for Unsecured debt in my Bankruptcy Alphabet.  Unsecured describes a  bankruptcy creditor who has no collateral to secure his debt. The world is full of pivotal distinctions:  male/female;  apples/oranges;  cold/hot.  The distinction between unsecured debt and secured debt is huge in bankruptcy. A secured creditor has a lien on the debtor’s […]

Priority is the P word in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Priority is the order in which claims of creditors are paid in a bankruptcy case. While all people may be created equal, not so for claims.  Recent income taxes and unpaid child support are among the  priority claims that get paid first and in full before […]

  The letter N, in my Bankruptcy Alphabet, stands for Nondischargeable.  These are the debts that simply don’t go away, even when you get a bankruptcy discharge. Family support heads the list of nondischargeable debts, at least figuratively.  Whether it’s called child support, alimony, maintenance, or a domestic support obligation, the debtor’s obligation to pay […]

G is for guaranty in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. A guaranty is just as much a debt as the bills one incurs directly, yet guaranties are often forgotten when the list of creditors is assembled to file bankruptcy. Any time you sign for a debt, yours or someone else’s, you create a legal relationship. The lender […]