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Out of Luck If You Skip A Creditor?

By Cathy Moran

add creditor

So, you slipped up and left a creditor out of your bankruptcy schedules.  Can you add an omitted creditor after the fact? In the fateful words of a careful lawyer, it depends. Depends on when the amendment is made and what chapter you’ve filed.  And the effect of adding a creditor varies. Let’s walk through […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2018, amendment

Bankruptcy Alphabet: R is for Retirement

By Cathy Moran

R for Retirement in Bankruptcy Alphabet

In my bankruptcy alphabet, R stands for Retirement. Retirement plans and IRA’s are safe in whatever chapter of bankruptcy you file. Your rights in an employer’s pension plan or a union pension plan are not even part of the property of your bankruptcy estate.  The Supreme Court held almost 20 years ago that ERISA qualified […]

Filed Under: ABC's of bankruptcy, How bankruptcy works

Going To Court In Your Bankruptcy Case

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy hearing

Every bankruptcy debtor must attend the first meeting of creditors in their case. It’s usually the first and only time that your personal appearance is required. What’s the point of going to court The first meeting of creditors has two basic purposes: to have the debtor validate the information in the bankruptcy papers under oath, […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

Where Do I File My Bankruptcy Case?

By Cathy Moran

Remember the kid’s geography game, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Clues took players all around the world to stop a gang of thieves. When it’s debt you want to stop, if you’ve moved around in the past two or three years, the rules of the game are not child’s play. Two issues are […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

Bankruptcy Upsets The Divorce Property Division

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy upsets divorce

The divorce was over. The assets were divided by a final judgment. The house would go to Him, and he would pay Her $75,000 on stated terms. It was the end of a miserable stretch in their lives. Only it wasn’t. Before anyone recorded the judgment of dissolution (that’s Californian for “divorce”), She filed bankruptcy. […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

Ten Essential Nuggets For Creditors in Bankruptcy Notice

By Cathy Moran

You’re looking at bankruptcy official form B9. It arrived in your mail because someone has filed bankruptcy and listed you  as a creditor on the schedules of a newly filed bankruptcy case. Most likely, the debtor owes you money or you have an open claim of some sort against the bankrupt. Your rights against the debtor […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

Did You Tell The Whole Truth In Your Bankruptcy Papers?

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy hearing

You must “tell the truth” on your bankruptcy schedules, bankruptcy advice sites intone. Most of us shrug that off: we can’t imagine deliberately lying to a court. But carelessness about bankruptcy schedules abounds. If you give the bankruptcy process just a lick and a promise, the resulting schedules aren’t truthful, not because of lies, but […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

Will A Second Bankruptcy Really Protect?

By Geoff Wiggs

Immediate protection from collection is at the top of the list for most bankruptcy filers. They want the lawsuit to stop; the wage garnishment to stop; the debt collectors to stop. But, if this isn’t your first bankruptcy case, do you get that protection? What the automatic stay does The Automatic Stay (or “Stay”) protects […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

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 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 owe when you […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

When Chapter 20 Bankruptcy Adds Up

By Cathy Moran

looking for Chapter 20

You can look a long time in the Bankruptcy Code without finding Chapter 20. Chapter 7 is there;  so are Chapters 11 and 13.  But no 20. But you find it in bankruptcy courtrooms and in the arsenal of good bankruptcy lawyers. So, what’s up? Chapter 20 is really bankruptcy slang.  It’s a Chapter 7 case […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2016

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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 on how I think law should work for the consumer and small businesses when it comes to debt.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

The Biggest Lie About Bankruptcy

Read anything about Chapter 7 and you get, "Your possessions are sold in Chapter 7 bankruptcy." That is, flat out, the biggest lie about bankruptcy. It's a liquidation proceeding and your stuff will be sold to pay creditors, the lie goes on. No wonder people are scared off from getting relief from debts … Read more

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