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Bankruptcy Questions Have Few Quick Answers

By Cathy Moran

The caller to my law office kept telling my assistant: I just want to ask Cathy a question. To which my assistant replied:  you need to first fill out our questionnaire and make an appointment. But I don’t want a meeting, I just want to ask a question. At which point, both sides of the call […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, You & your lawyer Tagged With: 2020

TImeless Wisdom Doesn’t Apply When Filing Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch”.  It’s a time-tested bit of folk wisdom. But applying that kind of thinking to legal claims when you’re filling out bankruptcy schedules is foolish. Worse, it can get you booted out of court. Count your “chickens” Bankruptcy starts with a list of what you own and what you […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

Find The Right Cure for Your Debt Problems

By Cathy Moran

get out of debt

Get-out-of-debt advice and sales pitches abound. But too few get-out-of-debt gurus tell you that you need a diagnosis of your financial ills before prescribing the cure. Is the stomach ache indigestion or appendicitis? Is it temporary upset or life threatening? The answer makes a big difference in how you treat it. No single prescription for […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2019, get out of debt

Can Debt Discharged In Bankruptcy Come Back To Haunt You?

By Cathy Moran

debt discharged in bankruptcy

Can debt bankruptcy in bankruptcy come back to haunt me? Worried clients ask me this all the time, fearful that the relief they get from their creditors in bankruptcy is only temporary. The short answer is no. The automatic stay that stops collectors when you file bankruptcy is replaced, at the end of the case, […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Life after bankruptcy Tagged With: after bankruptcy, debt collectors, discharge

Bankruptcy Changes Your Life, Only Not The Way You Think

By Cathy Moran

life after bankruptcy

How will filing bankruptcy change my life? My clients ask all the time.  They imagine the remainder of their life after bankruptcy with neither credit cards nor credit.  Outcasts in our economy.  Shunned by all.  Crippled by bankruptcy. They can see a scarlet “B” tattooed on their foreheads to mark them forever as Bankrupts. My […]

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

Better Credit After Bankruptcy: Does Reaffirming A Car Loan Help?

By Cathy Moran

rebuilding credit through reaffirmation

Does reaffirming a car loan after bankruptcy help rebuild your credit? Rebuilding credit is the motivation that drives lots of debtors to waive the benefits of their discharge as to a car loan. A reaffirmation agreement has the debtor agreeing to be personally liable after the bankruptcy discharge for the car loan balance. Miss payments […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2021, credit score

Do I Have To File Bankruptcy Before There’s A Judgment?

By Cathy Moran

time to discharge judgment

Can I discharge a judgment once it’s entered, was the first question the caller asked. Do I have time to file bankruptcy? The caller was sure he had to file bankruptcy before the court entered judgment or he’d be stuck with the judgment forever. Not so. Bankruptcy discharges judgments. And, a judgment in California does not […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: bankruptcy, discharge, judgment

Danger In Delaying Division of Property In CA Divorce

By Cathy Moran

dividing assets at divorce

Delay dividing property in your California divorce and a bankruptcy filing may cost you any shred of control over the division. All it takes is for your ex-spouse to file bankruptcy, and all the assets and the debts of the marriage become entangled in a bankruptcy case. Understand California community property That’s because your assets […]

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

Personal Assets Can Be At Risk For Your Business Debts

By Cathy Moran

business debts

Business debt can bleed over into an entrepreneur’s personal assets.  Hearing me say that, my client was dumbfounded. He was aghast that the generous equity in the home he and his wife owned was at risk when his corporate business folded. That was not because the shareholder is liable for the corporation’s debts.  A properly […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business, True Stories Tagged With: 2017

DYI Bankruptcy Did Him In

By Cathy Moran

For a layman filing a bankruptcy without a lawyer, he didn’t do too badly. He got credit counseling and filed the certificate. He completed the schedules fairly well. He even filed a pro se adversary proceeding to enforce the automatic stay when the foreclosure on a multi million dollar property went forward despite the bankruptcy. […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, True Stories, You & your lawyer

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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

Everyone gets $1M + bankruptcy exemption

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. … Read more

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