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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 […]

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

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 That’s even more generous than the originally enacted $600,000.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

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

Time Running Out on 2018 Tax Refunds

By Cathy Moran

tax refund 2018

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 […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes Tagged With: 2022, tax refund, unfiled tax returns

What Can Bankruptcy Do About Back Taxes

By Cathy Moran

wipe out 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 […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes Tagged With: 2022

Consider The Clawback of Pre-bankruptcy Transfers Before Filing

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy clawback

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 […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2022, avoidance, fraudulent transfer, preference

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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

Speak Fluent Bankruptcy: Guide To Essential Bankruptcy Terms

Bankruptcy has its own language.  If you are considering filing bankruptcy, it helps to know the language spoken there. Master just a couple of words and phrases, and input from a bankruptcy lawyer starts to make sense. So, in our continuing campaign for better understanding of bankruptcy, here's a dozen … Read more

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