Tax troubles become manageable in Chapter 13 bankruptcy. 13 offers powerful alternatives to fighting with the IRS. Or hiding from the IRS. When you’ve got tax troubles, it’s easy to feel powerless. After all, you’re confronting a federal agency who wrote the tax rules. And they have hordes of employees with nothing else to do. […]
California Homestead Exemption: The Truth Isn’t What You Think
“They can’t take my house, whatever happens. Right?” The young man in my office “knew” how the California homestead works: he insisted that his home was exempt as a California homestead, even if he filed bankruptcy. He “knew” that credit card debt was dischargeable. And that “knowledge” lead to his conviction that , in bankruptcy, […]
Mortgage Forbearance And The Hidden Gotcha: Escrow
Got a mortgage forbearance? Seems like a relief. But watch out for the normally escrowed taxes after the forbearance is up. The CARES Act made forbearance on federally backed mortgages available for the asking. But no one talked about the escrow portion of the skipped mortgage payments. Federal guidance urged servicers to offer easy ways […]
Annual IRA Contribution: Use It Or Lose It
Tax day approaches. With it comes the IRA contribution deadline. You expect to live for decades after you’re eligible for Social Security, don’t you? Then, you have only until April 15th to use the 2021 allowance for contributions to a tax-advantaged IRA. Miss making that 2021 contribution and it’s gone for all time. So, you […]
Will You Come Visit Me In Jail?
There’s a warrant out for my arrest, according to the message on my home phone. The charge is criminal tax evasion and tax fraud. The cops are coming for me, unless… Unless, the caller suggests, I call this number and send money. Who knew the feds could be bought off? Of course, it’s a scam. […]
SuperLawyer
I’ve been named a SuperLawyer among Bay Area bankruptcy lawyers. That makes 14 years running. It’s flattering, but probably not much more than that. The real measure of my skills is in the clients’ lives whom I’ve impacted and the young bankruptcy lawyers I’ve mentored. In the meantime, I’m waiting for my cape to be […]
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 […]
Does Your Corporation Really Protect You From Debt: A Checklist
Business people usually incorporate their business to create a barrier between themselves and the debts of the business. They hope to insulate themselves from possible financial failure of the company. But all too many entrepreneurs stop working on the problem when the corporation is created. Failure to attend to the myriad of next steps can […]
The Truth About Tax Liens After Bankruptcy
We have a lien on your name. Not your property, your name. That’s what the county tax collector told my client, years after he got his bankruptcy discharge. And that multi-thousand dollar lien claim threatened to sink the refinance of his house. Eventually, we got the county straightened out without going back to bankruptcy court. […]
Ten Best Bankruptcy Gems In 2021
What did readers want to know about bankruptcy in 2021? Turns out, a bit of everything. Looking at the top 10 posts among the 750 posts on Bankruptcy Soapbox, they were equally curious about how bankruptcy works as they were about life after bankruptcy. Homesteads, taxes, judgment liens are all found in the top ten, […]
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