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Which Spouse Is Liable For Debts In California

By Cathy Moran

liable for debts

California has been a community property state since 1850, and still we struggle to understand which spouse is liable for debts. So here, broad brush, is a guide to the legal liability of spouses, ex spouses, registered domestic partners and their community property for debt. Because, as I’ve written, the community is a third “party” […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2021, California, community property

What Happens To Cash In Bankruptcy?

By Cathy Moran

keep cash in bankruptcy

How much cash can you keep when you file bankruptcy? It’s not as though you won’t have living expenses after you file bankruptcy. You need to know how you’ll manage and what you’ll have to manage with. Funding that fresh start is what exemptions are all about. We are talking here about California because exemptions, […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: cash, exemptions, money

Whopping exemption for CA 529 college accounts

By Cathy Moran

college saving exemption

A substantial new California exemption snuck into law in 2021. It protects 529 college savings accounts from the creditors of parents. The exemption applies in all California collections and to California bankruptcies when the CCP 704 exemptions are selected. The eyeopener is that a parent (or other donor) can contribute the amount of the federal […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: California, college savings, exemptions

California drivers score huge bankruptcy win

By Cathy Moran

car after bankruptcy

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. The onerous requirement that a debtor give up their discharge as it pertains to the car lender is eliminated. The same bill, SB 1099, increases the exemption for equity […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2022, california exemptions, reaffirmation, ride-through

Get A Voodoo Discharge Without Filing Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

magic bankruptcy discharge

One of the great mysteries of debtor/creditor law is the community property discharge in bankruptcy. When only one spouse files bankruptcy in a community property state like California, the non filing spouse reaps bunches of benefits that creditors can’t imagine. Benefits that aren’t explicitly described in books about bankruptcy or understood by creditors. Those benefits […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: community property

California Consumers Have Powerful Debt Collection Rights

By Cathy Moran

California outdoes the rest of the country in its debt collection rights for consumers. Debt collectors have noticed the growing understanding of debtors about their rights to fair debt collection. And they aren’t happy. The Federal law Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regulates the conduct of third party collectors. Those protections apply everywhere and more […]

Filed Under: Debt Collection Rights, Strictly California Tagged With: debt collection

Do I qualify for bankruptcy in the Bay Area?

By Cathy Moran

San Francisco Bay Area

The higher-than-average wages in the Bay Area don’t disqualify you from bankruptcy, despite rampant misinformation about the bankruptcy means test. The means test, added to bankruptcy law in 2005, was (poorly) designed to keep above-average earners out of bankruptcy. But it hasn’t worked in the Bay Area, largely because of the cost of housing here. […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2022, Alameda, Bay Area, means test, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz

California Bankruptcy Law Is All Our Own

By Cathy Moran

california bankruptcy law

California Bankruptcy law is a lot like a unicorn….appealing but imaginary. Instead, we have bankruptcy in California, where the landscape is shaped by community property;  state exemptions, large mortgages, and the 9th circuit court of appeals. Like the Merced River cutting through the granite of Yosemite, those factors alter the bankruptcy landscape here. Community property […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2016, california bankruptcy

No More Lawsuits On Old Debt In California

By Cathy Moran

law has teeth

California law on debt collection finally has teeth. Under new California law, a creditor must allege that the statute of limitations has not run when it files a lawsuit. No more suing on long-dead debt and winning unless the consumer files an answer and pleads the statute of limitations. No more collectors relying on consumers […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2020

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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

How To Pay For Bankruptcy When You’re Flat Broke

One of the cosmic ironies of our legal system is that it costs money to file bankruptcy. Bankruptcy gets you out of debt only if you have the money to file. The costs of bankruptcy include the filing fee collected by the court; the required credit counseling; and, if you're smart, an experienced lawyer to make sure … Read more

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