California law, effective January 1, 2023, will assure those who file bankruptcy that they can keep their car as long as they stay current on payments. No longer does a debtor have to give up their discharge as to the car lender to be sure of keeping the car. The same bill, SB 1099, increases […]
Do You Get The Bankruptcy Grubstake Exemption?
The word grubstake never appears in the Bankruptcy Code or the California Code of Civil Procedure where the exemptions available in bankruptcy cases filed in California are found. Yet every bankruptcy lawyer uses the phrase; and seemingly, every bankruptcy debtor struggles to understand it. What’s a bankruptcy grubstake Here’s the standard English definition of grubstake. […]
7 Principles of California Community Property
Baffled by California community property? Think it makes you personally liable for the debts of your spouse? Lots of people do. But it doesn’t. California has been a community property state since it became a state in 1850. You would think we’d have gotten the hang of it long ago. But the community property system […]
Can You Be Sued After The Foreclosure
Foreclosure is traumatic enought without worrying whether lenders can sue you after foreclosure. Breathe deeply. California has laws that limit what a mortgage lender can do to collect its money after the foreclosure. One addresses the rights of the creditor who conducted the foreclosure sale. The other borrower protection looks at what the loan was […]
Title Isn’t Everything: Watch Out For The Assets In Your Spouse’s Name
Your spouse’s assets can get swept up in your bankruptcy when you live in California. Because, most likely, just holding an asset in the name of one spouse doesn’t defeat the community property presumption. I saw it play out in a first meeting of creditors when the bankruptcy trustee asked about an asset. But it’s […]
Bankruptcy Means Test: New Numbers, Little Impact For Bay Area
The bankruptcy means test numbers for California are out, showing median incomes moving in both directions, depending on family size. In the Bay Area, the means test income levels, coupled with the cost of housing, don’t keep many people out of the bankruptcy chapter of their choice. More. Why the means test matters The median […]
Do I qualify for bankruptcy in the Bay Area?
The higher-than-average wages in the Bay Area don’t disqualify you from bankruptcy, despite rampant misinformation about the bankruptcy means test. The means test, added to bankruptcy law in 2005, was (poorly) designed to keep above-average earners out of bankruptcy. But it hasn’t worked in the Bay Area, largely because of the cost of housing here. […]
The Secret Bankruptcy Discharge For Community Property
Psst! Let me tell you a secret about bankruptcy law. You can get 3/4 of the benefits of a bankruptcy discharge without ever going near a bankruptcy court if you are a married person in California, or any other community property state. If your spouse files bankruptcy and you don’t join in, you still reap much […]
Be Prepared When You File Bankruptcy Without Your Spouse
The bankruptcy trustee’s question to the debtor was jarring: “why didn’t your spouse file bankruptcy with you?” For starters, it was the only “why” question in an entire calendar of debtor hearings. Every other question began, “what”, or “do you have”, questions about assets and financial history. This question asked for the motivation of another […]
Do California Seniors Need to File Bankruptcy?
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 […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- …
- 8
- Next Page »
