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Can Your Business Survive Tough Times?

By Cathy Moran

ailing business

When the virus shutdown is over, ailing businesses must consider whether to continue.

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business Tagged With: 2020, covid-19

What Should Bankruptcy Cost?

By Cathy Moran

pay for bankruptcy

Pick a cheap bankruptcy lawyer and it could really cost you. We’re trained as consumers to find the lowest price for stuff we buy. But picking a lawyer is not the place for economy. But how can you know what a bankruptcy should cost when you’ve never hired a lawyer before and you don’t want […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, You & your lawyer Tagged With: bankruptcy lawyer

Stay At Home Doesn’t Mean Get Left Behind At Retirement

By Cathy Moran

Just because you don’t work outside the home doesn’t mean you can live on nothing in your old age. If you are married and your spouse has qualifying income, you can contribute to a spousal IRA. And you should. The IRA rules for a nonworking spouse are essentially like the rules for an employed person: […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Managing Money Tagged With: IRA, non-working spouse, retirement

Your Right To Credit Reporting After Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

credit report after bankruptcy

You’ve finished your Chapter 13 and emerged from bankruptcy with your home loan current. But your credit report is a blank page as to your mortgage. The mortgage servicer isn’t reporting your payments to the credit reporting agencies [CRA’s].   Nothing. Nada.  Crickets. So, even though you’re making regular payments, you’re not visibly rebuilding your credit. […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Life after bankruptcy Tagged With: 2017, credit reporting

When Your STBX Files Bankruptcy: An Action Plan

By Cathy Moran

stbx bankruptcy

Whether the news comes by phone or mail, the notice that your soon-to-be-ex spouse has filed bankruptcy can bring fear and confusion. You need some facts and a plan, now. So let’s look at how bankruptcy affects a non filing spouse and how to chart a course through a STBX bankruptcy case. Child support safe […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Family Law Tagged With: divorce, family law

Separate Finances Doesn’t Protect Spouse From Financial Disaster

By Cathy Moran

By keeping separate finances, this California couple thought they had insulated the wife from the financial woes of her entrepreneur husband. They didn’t share bank accounts nor credit cards while she carefully kept her distance from his business dealings. Her name was not on anything tied to his business. But “separate” isn’t enough to overcome […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Family Law Tagged With: 2021, community property

Take Credit For The Tax Deductions That Hide In Chapter 13

By Cathy Moran

tax deductions bankruptcy

It’s tax time: don’t overlook tax deductions in Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. Tax deductions lurk in the most unlikely places. If your Chapter 13 plan is catching up home loan arrears, there’s a deduction hiding in the trustee’s disbursement records. Most likely, the lender’s filed proof of claim in the bankruptcy case is full of […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Taxes

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

Which Bankruptcy Chapter Is Right For Me?

By Cathy Moran

choose bankruptcy chapter

Seven or Thirteen? 13 or 7? When you have a choice, how do you decide which chapter of bankruptcy works best? Usually, the choice is driven by the scope of the discharge and the kind of debts you have. More kinds of  debts are dischargeable in Chapter 13 and the automatic stay protects you for the […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, True Stories Tagged With: 2016, choose chapter, timing

The Unexpected Loss When Tax Returns Filed Late

By Cathy Moran

late tax returns

File your tax returns really late and you may lose out on credit for toward your Social Security. Betcha didn’t know there was a connection between income taxes and your Social Security benefits.  This was a new one for me. I’ve written often about the negative consequences of putting off filing tax returns. But Harvard Law professor […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Taxes Tagged With: 2018

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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

When Can I File Bankruptcy Again

Remember the old high school cheer:  two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Turns out, that's not just a cheer, it's shorthand for the rule on when you can file bankruptcy again. And it points out that when you can file again depends on what kind of bankruptcy you filed last time. Here's how it … Read more

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