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 […]
California’s Good Deed: Passing Real Property At Death
The horror stories about do-it-yourself estate planning are both plentiful and tragic. Between the fear of probate and the fear of legal fees, inventive people invent inexpensive strategies for passing property to the next generation. Adding someone to the deed is the most common one I see. It works like this: in order to see […]
Why Bankruptcy Means Test Is Paper Tiger In Bay Area
Bankruptcy’s means test is a paper tiger in the San Francisco Bay Area. Really! You can see why few Bay Area residents are constrained by the means test when you compare the latest median income figures used in the means test with the allowed cost of rental housing here. To review: Congress in 2005 tried to write […]
When Your Bank Account Is Seized: California Action Plan
Time is short when you get a notice that a creditor has levied your bank account. California has protections that may allow you to recover money that’s been seized. But success in getting your money back depends on prompt action and following the procedures. Bank levy basics A creditor with a judgment is entitled to […]
California drivers score huge bankruptcy win
California law, effective January 1, 2023, will assure those who file bankruptcy that they can keep their car as long as they stay current on payments. No longer does a debtor have to give up their discharge as to the car lender to be sure of keeping the car. The same bill, SB 1099, increases […]
Do You Get The Bankruptcy Grubstake Exemption?
The word grubstake never appears in the Bankruptcy Code or the California Code of Civil Procedure where the exemptions available in bankruptcy cases filed in California are found. Yet every bankruptcy lawyer uses the phrase; and seemingly, every bankruptcy debtor struggles to understand it. What’s a bankruptcy grubstake Here’s the standard English definition of grubstake. […]
7 Principles of California Community Property
Baffled by California community property? Think it makes you personally liable for the debts of your spouse? Lots of people do. But it doesn’t. California has been a community property state since it became a state in 1850. You would think we’d have gotten the hang of it long ago. But the community property system […]
Can You Be Sued After The Foreclosure
Foreclosure is traumatic enought without worrying whether lenders can sue you after foreclosure. Breathe deeply. California has laws that limit what a mortgage lender can do to collect its money after the foreclosure. One addresses the rights of the creditor who conducted the foreclosure sale. The other borrower protection looks at what the loan was […]
Title Isn’t Everything: Watch Out For The Assets In Your Spouse’s Name
Your spouse’s assets can get swept up in your bankruptcy when you live in California. Because, most likely, just holding an asset in the name of one spouse doesn’t defeat the community property presumption. I saw it play out in a first meeting of creditors when the bankruptcy trustee asked about an asset. But it’s […]
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