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When Is The Time Right To File Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

time to file bankruptcy

Just like stand-up comedy and batting in baseball, filing bankruptcy is all about timing. Timing your bankruptcy filing is no different. File bankruptcy too early, or too late, and you risk losing assets or advantages that better timing could have assured. Admittedly, you don’t always have the luxury of filing bankruptcy on your own schedule. […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Featured Tagged With: 2020, when to file bankruptcy

Hold Or Fold? How To Decide If Filing Bankruptcy Is Right For You

By Cathy Moran

considering bankruptcy

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em; know when to walk away, know when to run… So goes the gambler’s advice to the young card player in the hit Kenny Rogers song. Hum along as we think about how we play our cards when we’re in debt: do you file bankruptcy […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights Tagged With: bankruptcy and poker, hold or fold

Rising From The Ashes Of Financial Disaster

By Cathy Moran

phoenix rising from ashes

Life doesn’t end with bankruptcy. Bankruptcy doesn’t mean that the good times are all in the past. There’s the  future, too. Both the individual and society reap benefits from bankruptcy in ways that you may have missed. So, in my view, Jay Fleichman’s analysis of the bankruptcy of Halsey Minor, the founder of CNET and once […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, Life after bankruptcy

Do California Seniors Need to File Bankruptcy?

By Cathy Moran

California, it turns out, is a great place to retire. Not because of the cost of living, certainly. It’s great in spite of the cost of living. Because California exemptions are very generous to those of retirement age. Those exemptions effectively make many indebted seniors collection-proof. Bankruptcy for those seniors may seem unnecessary. How exemptions protect […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Strictly California Tagged With: California, elders, estate

What Everyone Knows About Bankruptcy: Not

By Cathy Moran

torture device

Lots of people profess to know all about bankruptcy. Whether they have good information or not. But other professionals should know better than to advise people about the workings of bankruptcy. And if they don’t know better, they should be made to pay, in some exquisitely painful way, for the harm they inflict with bad […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, True Stories Tagged With: living expenses, means test

Dumbest Thing For Those In Debt

By Cathy Moran

dealing with debt

The headline was compelling:  The 5 Dumbest Things You Can Do If You Have Too Much Debt. I even liked the site’s name:  How Life Works.  That’s a tagline I’d like to use. I could make my own list of dumb ways to tackle debt, but better if someone else had already done it. Until […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Featured

Is There Life After Bankruptcy?

By Cathy Moran

frequently asked questions

Is bankruptcy worth it? If you see filing bankruptcy to get a fresh start as painful or less than honorable, you might wonder what life is like, on the other side of bankruptcy. What’s the return on taking the big step? I got a report from the other side this week from a Chapter 7 […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Featured, Life after bankruptcy, True Stories

Understand Bankruptcy Basics Before You Need Them

By Cathy Moran

Bankruptcy basics are simple, at least in concept. Bankruptcy is the legal system’s remedy for debts beyond the ability of the person who owes money to pay. Bankruptcy in the United States operates to satisfy a person’s debts to the extent possible and to enable those with debts they can’t pay to start over. Exemptions […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy

The Worst Reason To Choose Debt Settlement Over Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

The guy with an old debt asked if bankruptcy or debt settlement would cause greater damage to his “credit”. The money advice columnist gave the right answer to the wrong question. She got it backwards. She advised that bankruptcy was more damaging given that the nagging debts were already three years old and would drop off his […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights Tagged With: credit score, debt settlement

7 Essentials For Better Results From Filing Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

before filing bankruptcy

Plan before filing bankruptcy and you get better, more certain relief. Even if you’re not quite sure that you’re ready to take the bankruptcy plunge, scout the bankruptcy territory. Take some time to learn the rules and explore ways to maximize the relief available in bankruptcy. If you don’t plan ahead and just rush into […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Featured Tagged With: 2021, means test

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Bankruptcy Basics

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. We dig deeper into how to consider bankruptcy and navigate a bankruptcy case.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

Bankruptcy Alphabet: F is for First

In my Bankruptcy Alphabet, F is for First meeting of creditors. Lots of rumors exist about the that meeting; it produces unwarranted anxiety that is avoidable if you understand what's up. Let's check it out. The first meeting of creditors, also called the 341 meeting, is often the only time a debtor has to appear … Read more

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