Congress has just expanded and simplified eligibility for Chapter 13 by enacting new debt limits. This is big news and long-awaited. Upon the president’s signature on S. 3823 on June 21, 2022, Chapter 13 debtors can have up to $2.75M in debts and qualify for the streamlined reorganization offered by Chapter 13. The previous, two-part […]
California Community Property Creates A Marital Threesome
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 […]
What Does A Bankruptcy Lawyer Do For You
Lawyers cost money and you’re considering bankruptcy because you don’t have enough money. What would a bankruptcy lawyer do for you? The existence of official bankruptcy forms make it seem that bankruptcy is just filling out forms. Unfortunately, that isn’t so. Forms are only part of the picture. An important part, but not the whole […]
Dividing Debts At Divorce: What You Need To Know
The division of the debts of a failed marriage, however carefully crafted at divorce, can be utterly destroyed if one of the former spouses files a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. A Chapter 13 discharge is double barreled. It will eliminate the debts that the filing spouse owes to creditors. But, it also wipes out any obligation to […]
Why Credit Cards Win Clash of Creditors
In the tug o war of which creditor to pay, why is it that credit cards win over taxes and child support? I’m accustomed to clients who pay creditors rather than provide for their own health care, emergency fund, or retirement. That’s taking care of commitments to others before self. But I haven’t figured out […]
Protecting Your Co signor When You Can’t Pay
Cosigning a loan links you and your cosignor together for the life of the debt. If you get in financial trouble, your troubles are your co signor’s troubles too. If you can’t pay your debts, the standard bankruptcy discharge will get rid of your debt, but it doesn’t help your co signor. Even while you […]
4 Rules For Testifying At Your Bankruptcy Hearing
Going to court for your first meeting of creditors? What are they going to ask me?, you wonder. My bankruptcy clients imagine a quiz on the contents of their bankruptcy papers. Or worse, an inquisition on why they needed to file bankruptcy. That’s not likely. The first meeting of creditors is much more likely to […]
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 […]
What To Disclose In Bankruptcy Papers
If the headline drew you in, like the Geico gecko, you can complain you’ve been duped. There’s no decision involved: in bankruptcy papers, you disclose everything. Period. Disclosure is the price of the bankruptcy discharge. Shortchange the system by leaving out inconvenient facts and you risk both the omitted asset and the discharge. Understand the […]
Bankruptcy And Divorce Collide: The Threatened Filing
My soon-to-be ex threatens to file a bankruptcy tomorrow and get me kicked out of the house. The frantic voice on the phone wanted to know whether he could do that in California. Or better, how he could be stopped from upsetting the pending divorce through the bankruptcy courts. Welcome to the volatile collision between bankruptcy and […]
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