The caller says your Social Security file is incomplete and without more information, your assets, as well as your benefits, will be frozen. Pretty terrifying if you depend on Social Security checks. Only, it’s not true. The caller isn’t from Social Security. Social Security can’t freeze your assets. Social Security doesn’t do business by phone. […]
Bankruptcy No Place For DIY
The do- it- yourself spirit seems especially strong in bankruptcy courts these days. Only it often comes with a big price tag. Nearly 45% of the Central District CA Chapter 7 cases were filed by individuals doing it themselves. The national rules committee drafted the new bankruptcy forms with the unrepresented in mind. Why do people […]
The One Person You Must Tell About Your Bankruptcy
Most people who file bankruptcy don’t want anyone else to know. Some of my clients try to hide their break for financial freedom from friends and neighbors. Others are worried about their boss finding out. Occasionally, someone will try to keep it from their mate. But trying to hide his bankruptcy nearly cost one client […]
What Mythbusters Star Says About Money Troubles
Look at the big picture. That was the point Adam Savage of the TV show Mythbusters made as the speaker at my son’s graduation as a mechanical engineer. He was talking about using engineering skills after college. But, it struck me as equally applicable to my audience of the indebted as it was to his audience of newly fledged engineers. […]
Business Bankruptcy Depends On Who You Are
While knowing who you are may be central to philosophy and mental health, you wouldn’t think it poses a difficult question in a business bankruptcy. You wouldn’t think the word “you” would be so challenging. Yet, small business owners find it hard to separate themselves from the business, even when that business is incorporated. After […]
The Flat Wrong 1099
When her soon-to-be-ex filed bankruptcy, my client got a 1099-C for the joint credit card. The form claimed that the debt was cancelled. Therefore, she had additional income equal to the card balance. Only, none of the statements on the 1099 were true. The debt wasn’t discharged as to the non filing spouse. One spouse’s […]
Is Your Choice Of Bankruptcy Chapters Really Dictated By Your Stuff?
Through my Twitter feed came a link to the pro’s and con’s of filing bankruptcy from the business section of the Chicago Tribune. Good chance to see how non lawyers see my world, I thought. Bankruptcy was all about protecting “stuff”, said the writer, and the choice of chapters is driven by the kind of […]
Best Bankruptcy Advice of The Year
Readers of Bankruptcy Soapbox vote for their favorite bits of bankruptcy and money advice with their eyeballs. I’ve tallied the eyeballs on the 48 posts written in 2018, and, cue the fanfare, present the top 10 most-read new posts for 2018. And in fact, this advice will stand you in good stead in 2019. […]
Credit Reporting Agency Is All Wrong About Bankruptcy
Found a mistake in your credit report after bankruptcy? Happens all too frequently. But a major credit reporting agency is flat wrong on its advice on how to debts discharged in bankruptcy reported properly. The cynical side of me is not surprised. They get so little else right, why do I expect them to write truthfully […]
Tax Filing Extension Invites Tax Trouble For The Self Employed
We never make tax deposits for our small business because we don’t know what we’ll owe. We just wait til the return is prepared and try to pay then, he explained. But, again this October, he couldn’t write a tax check for a year’s worth of income. So the client sitting across the table from […]
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