Every client filing bankruptcy asks that question: how long will bankruptcy take? Probably, the real question is “when will this be over?” Like so many questions in the law, the answer is “it depends.” From filing bankruptcy to discharge In a Chapter 7, filing to discharge is about four months; in Chapter 13 it’s three […]
Search Results for: do you need to file bankruptcy
When You Can’t Pay The EIDL Loan
The COVID-era EIDL loans are coming due. But just because the pandemic is over doesn’t mean that business has returned to normal. Prepandemic, normal may have been difficult too. If yours is one of the many businesses can’t bear the additional stress of repaying EIDL loans, here’s what you need to know. What are EIDL […]
Bankruptcy Discharge For One Spouse Yields Benefits For Non-filing Spouse
Spouses don’t have to file bankruptcy together. Often there are strategic reasons for only one spouse in a community property state like California to file. So, where does that leave the non-filing spouse when creditors come calling? Community property in bankruptcy Central to this discussion is the way the Bankruptcy Code treats community property. When […]
Laboring Over Bankruptcy Papers
Why is filing bankruptcy so much work? Paper. Statements. Tax returns. Car contracts. Pay stubs. Appraisals. Title reports. Credit counseling. It gets tedious fast. So, why is bankruptcy so complicated? Do you want the polite, professional answer, or the pointed, political answer? Bankruptcy bargain Polite answer first: the bankruptcy bargain, your deal with the legal system […]
Bankruptcy Can Rewrite The Divorce Property Division
The assets were divided in the divorce. The divorce was over. 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”) laying out the division […]
Hold Or Fold? How To Decide If Filing Bankruptcy Is Right For You
You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em; know when to walk away, know when to run… So goes the gambler’s advice to the young card player in the hit Kenny Rogers song. Hum along as we think about how we play our cards when we’re in debt: do you file bankruptcy […]
Be Prepared When You File Bankruptcy Without Your Spouse
The bankruptcy trustee’s question to the debtor was jarring: “why didn’t your spouse file bankruptcy with you?” For starters, it was the only “why” question in an entire calendar of debtor hearings. Every other question began, “what”, or “do you have”, questions about assets and financial history. This question asked for the motivation of another […]
How Much Should You Pay To Get Out Of Debt?
Shop for a bankruptcy lawyer, and you’ll end up wondering what bankruptcy should cost. When you’re flat broke and under pressure, cheaper sure looks better. If a lawyer will do your Chapter 7 for $600, what’s the point of paying $1000? Or even $2000? Like answers to many legal questions, it depends. Bankruptcy relief depends on […]
Bankruptcy Filing Requires More Than Honesty
The discharge of debts you can’t pay is the goal of a bankruptcy filing. That discharge wipes out debts, making them forever unenforceable. Yet, it isn’t a slam-dunk that your bankruptcy case ends in discharge. The Bankruptcy Code lists 12 situations in which a debtor doesn’t get a discharge. Which is why my colleague Jay […]
Do California Seniors Need to File Bankruptcy?
California, it turns out, is a great place to retire. Not because of the cost of living, certainly. It’s great in spite of the cost of living. Because California exemptions are very generous to those of retirement age. Those exemptions effectively make many indebted seniors collection-proof. Bankruptcy for those seniors may seem unnecessary. How exemptions protect […]
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