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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 Statute of Limitations Gets Teeth

By Cathy Moran

law has teeth

California law on debt collection finally has teeth. Recent changes to California law say that a debt collector 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 […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2020

California Community Property Creates A Marital Threesome

By Cathy Moran

Sounds kinky, doesn’t it? Three players in a marriage. Sharing. Everything. Only this is something you can talk about openly, without blushing: community property. Community property is the default property arrangement in California for a married couple. Yet it is poorly understood by those affected by it and it isn’t inevitable. How community property works […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: community property

Wage Garnishment Survival Guide

By Cathy Moran

“Your wages have been garnished, ” reads the letter from your employer. Do nothing and twenty-five percent of your after-tax earnings will be sent to your judgment creditor. So, do something:  keep reading this action guide for Californians subject to a wage garnishment. This guide has three parts: the short run guide for minimizing the hit […]

Filed Under: Strictly California

California Homestead Grows With Inflation: Calculating The Homestead Increase

By Cathy Moran

calculating today's California homestead

Calculating California’s homestead reveals the homestead in 2022 is now capped at $626,400. That’s even more generous than the originally enacted $600,000. And it will change next year. To calculated the current homestead exemption, you need an armful of data (and a bit of math). Because, the new law provided not only for a bigger […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2022, exemption, homestead

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 Exemptions Increase for 2022

By Cathy Moran

new exemption numbers

The triennial adjustment of California exemption amounts becomes effective April 1. And it’s no joke. The new exemption numbers will protect more value in cash and assets necessary for everyday living. Exemptions define the assets that are safe from creditors in bankruptcy. The CCP 704 exemptions are also available outside of bankruptcy when judgment creditors […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2022, california exemptions

Are You Liable For Your Spouse’s Debts In California?

By Cathy Moran

spouse's debts

“Everyone knows” that California’s community property law makes you liable for spouse’s debts. Only, “everyone” is wrong. Or, more accurately, they’re only half right. Community property is liable for everything In California, the community property is liable for the debts of either spouse. In fact, the community property is liable for the debts that either […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: community property

The Most Costly Community Property Blunder

By Cathy Moran

california property

What do you do when creditors from your spouse’s past threaten? Chances are your first reaction is to put the title to your biggest assets in just your name. Whew! Safe. Not. Just because  the deed to the house now reads Jane Doe instead of John Doe and Jane Doe it’s easy to think the house is Jane’s separate […]

Filed Under: Family Law, Strictly California

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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

What You Left Out Of Your Bankruptcy Schedules

One of the first questions a bankruptcy trustee will ask you at the hearing in your bankruptcy case is:  did you read the schedules before you signed them? The obvious, and expected, answer is YES. And if your answer is "yes", then the trustee can conclude that you stand behind the information that the … Read more

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