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 […]
California Homestead Grows With Inflation: Calculating The Homestead Increase
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 That’s even more generous than the originally enacted $600,000.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 […]
California Exemptions Increase for 2022
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 […]
Time Running Out on 2018 Tax Refunds
Expecting a tax refund for an old tax year but haven’t filed the return yet? Time’s running out. If you are more than three years late in filing your tax return, you forfeit any tax refund that you would otherwise get. The IRS still has $1.5 BILLION in unclaimed refunds for tax year 2018 but […]
What Can Bankruptcy Do About Back Taxes
Bankruptcy wipes out taxes and leaves you with a clean slate. But somehow, the second biggest myth about bankruptcy is that taxes can’t be discharged. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The limits on discharging taxes in bankruptcy are few: you can’t discharge taxes first due in the last 3 years; taxes for years you haven’t filed a […]
Consider The Clawback of Pre-bankruptcy Transfers Before Filing
If you don’t understand clawback in bankruptcy, you might think that bankruptcy involves only what you have when you file. But that’s not how it works. Bankruptcy law gives a bankruptcy trustee to power to unwind transactions and transfers that diminish what the debtor has on the day the case is filed. The idea is […]
