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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

10 Things Tax Professionals Need To Know About Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

As tax season approaches, tax pros need a basic understanding of bankruptcy to serve clients well. Tax preparers stand a good chance of encountering clients who either have filed bankruptcy, or who may benefit from a bankruptcy filing. Here’s my list of bankruptcy nuggets that a good tax professional should have at hand. 1. Debts […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes Tagged With: accountants, tax preparers

Discharge Taxes in Bankruptcy: Move Beyond the Myth

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy taxes

Myths about discharging taxes in bankruptcy are as common as myths about fire-breathing dragons.  Central to the bankruptcy tax myth is the claim that taxes can’t be discharged in bankruptcy. Not so.  Bankruptcy can wipe out many kinds of taxes.  And that discharge can restore order to a family’s economy. Which ones are dischargeable?  Let’s see. […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes Tagged With: discharge taxes

All I Want For Christmas Is A New Year And A Fresh Start

By Cathy Moran

fresh start

The best gift you can give yourself for Christmas may be a fresh financial start by filing bankruptcy. For many, this year has been rough. Jobs lost, small businesses struggling, people isolated. Even if you headed into the pandemic in reasonable financial shape, little good has come of the years after/ So, what would it […]

Filed Under: Featured

Can You Rescue Your Business With Chapter 13

By Cathy Moran

rescue business

Small business owners who are sole proprietors can enlist the power of bankruptcy’s Chapter 13 to rescue their business at a price they can afford. Everyone thinks of Chapter 11 as the “keep the business and ditch the debt” form of bankruptcy. But traditional Chapter 11 is cumbersome and just flat out too expensive for […]

Filed Under: Featured, Small business Tagged With: 2021, business, reorganization

Step By Step Guide To Business Shutdown

By Cathy Moran

business shutdown

There’s lots written on how to start a business. Not so much about business shutdown. Even pre-pandemic, half of all new businesses fail within 5 years. Post pandemic, the pain is so much greater. So let’s walk through how to manage a business shutdown, tie up loose ends, and minimize problems that may follow you […]

Filed Under: Featured, Small business Tagged With: 2021, business closure, closing up, going out of business

Bankruptcy Drives Credit Score Surprise

By Cathy Moran

Bankruptcy improved my client’s credit score, almost on the spot. Before bankruptcy, a miserable credit score was no surprise.  This client reported a 498 credit score before he filed. What was surprising is that, three month after he filed bankruptcy, his score was 614! That’s a 116 point increase in his score in three months.  […]

Filed Under: Featured, Life after bankruptcy Tagged With: 2019, credit score

What A Bankruptcy Lawyer Is Thankful For

By Cathy Moran

On Thanksgiving, I’m mindful of how precious the American approach to insolvency is. In the U.S.  a bankruptcy discharge provides the proverbial fresh start to move forward with life. Money troubles do not have to cloud a life forever. Bankruptcy is widely available and broadly effective in getting people a fresh financial start. On the individual level, […]

Filed Under: Featured

Two Strikes & You’re Out (Of Your Home)

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy stay

Three strikes and you’re out.  Anyone familiar with baseball knows that one. The rules are different in bankruptcy. Two strikes and you’re out. And for one couple, they’re not only out of bankruptcy, they’re out of their house. Foreclosed the day after they filed bankruptcy number three. Because, what they didn’t know is that there […]

Filed Under: Featured, True Stories Tagged With: 2017, do it yourself

Why You Don’t Want A Bankruptcy Attorney To Fight For You

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy lawyer

Everyone wants a good bankruptcy lawyer when they’re considering filing bankruptcy. So, how do you measure a good bankruptcy lawyer? We Fight For You! screamed the on-line headline for a bankruptcy law firm. That firm clearly thought willingness to fight was the measure. While I applaud the firm’s energy and commitment, I question their focus. […]

Filed Under: Featured, 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

Inclusion in Bankruptcy Doesn’t Equal “Discharged”

Convincing clients that all of their debts must be included in bankruptcy is one of the hardest parts of being a bankruptcy lawyer. The struggle often seems Herculean. Sometimes, they will tell me they don't want to include their car loan in the case because they "need the car". Sometimes I find the … Read more

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