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What Your Bankruptcy Lawyer Can’t Tell You

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy secret about means test

I can share a secret, just between us. Bankruptcy “reform” in 2005 tried in a number of ways to discredit and gag lawyers from helping debtors. One of those additions to the Bankruptcy Code prohibits lawyers from advising those filing bankruptcy to incur new debt.  The statute makes no distinction about the kind of debt […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: Car, means test

Bankruptcy Means Test: New Numbers, Little Impact For Bay Area

By Cathy Moran

means test numbers

The bankruptcy means test line in California is up, so higher incomes still escape the means test. The median income in your state is the starting point for bankruptcy’s means test. Below median, and it’s a given you qualify for the bankruptcy chapter of your choice. Above median, more calculation is required to see whether […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2020, Alameda, means test, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz

Why Bankruptcy Means Test Is Paper Tiger In Bay Area

By Cathy Moran

means test is paper tiger

Bankruptcy’s means test is a paper tiger in the San Francisco Bay Area. Really! You can see why few Bay Area residents are constrained by the means test when you compare the latest median income figures  used in the means test with the allowed cost of rental housing here. To review:  Congress  in 2005 tried to write […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: means test

Does Bankruptcy Bar Retirement Savings?

By Cathy Moran

retirement contributions

Ongoing retirement saving by Chapter 13 debtors has been a touchy subject since the means test became a part of the bankruptcy scene. The means test was intended to squeeze every available dollar from consumer debtors. It works by limiting the expenses that can be deducted from income in figuring what a debtor can/must pay […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Developing law, Featured Tagged With: 2020, means test, retirement

Skip Bankruptcy’s Means Test

By Cathy Moran

skip means test

    The couple was despondent when another bankruptcy attorney told them that, despite $100,000 in old taxes, they couldn’t file Chapter 7. This fine fellow told them that the means test showed they had $3000 of disposable income per month.  A Chapter 7 would be an abuse of  bankruptcy under the law. Only Chapter […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Taxes Tagged With: 2019, means test

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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

High Income Earners Pass Bankruptcy’s Means Test

ALERT:   Being above the median income on the means test is not an automatic bar to filing bankruptcy I'm so used to railing against deliberate campaigns of misinformation about bankruptcy that I forget that there's a lot of innocent ignorance out there. Start with "qualifying" for bankruptcy. A very … Read more

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