When facing tough personal finances, it is natural to wonder whether having a problem paying the bills next month qualifies a debtor for bankruptcy. This possibility may occur although a debtor is momentarily able to pay the personal bills for the current month. A debtor should seriously consider filing for bankruptcy when facing an inability […]
Extreme Caution: Invading Your IRA or 401(k) to Relieve Money Problems Might Ruin You When faced with paying your personal Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania or Virginia bills, considering whether to invade your IRA or 401(k) may seem to be a worthwhile possibility. Before you decide to draw down your IRA or your 401(k), you should know […]
Over Exemptions? Pay Cash to the Trustee and Sleep Better The gold standard for Chapter 7 bankruptcies is the “no asset” case, when a debtor’s equity in his assets is less than allowed exemptions. Because so many people are way over leveraged, that happens 95% of the time. The “no asset” case is desirable for […]
Fix Real Estate Problems With Equitable Subrogation Real estate transactions may be very simple or incredibly complex. Further complicating the already intricate process of purchases and sales, creations of subdivisions and problems of zoning is the reality that almost every real estate transaction involves some degree of credit financing. Whether on the commercial side or […]
When a business fails the owners frequently find themselves facing their own personal bankruptcy. Owners considering bankruptcy want to discharge business obligations they’ve guarantied but still retain their home. This home is almost always subject to a significant mortgage. Because the mortgage is considered consumer debt, the mortgage may become an obstacle to the former […]
Donald Trump Predux: The Sad Bankruptcy of Edison Protégé Samuel Insull Long before Donald Trump made national headlines for bankrupting his failing Atlantic City casinos, a great but lesser known industrialist named Samuel Insull found himself facing bankruptcy and charges of fraud and embezzlement. Insull had been an important figure in the growth of the […]
No Escape From The Muddy Goo: Almost Any Adult Can Be Served At The Defendant’s Home On TV, process servers appear as clowns, ice cream vendors or construction workers and after engaging the hero in offhand chatter force papers into his hand announcing “You’ve been served!” The hero looks down with an expression as if […]
The means test imposed by § 707(b)(2) following adoption of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) has created a new universe of bankruptcy jurisprudence. The means test, and the Forms 22A, B and C that manifest the test, were created to provide a mechanical and formulaic guide to whether an […]
Most modern real estate settlements and other contract signings are frenzied and intimidating affairs. A person may be asked to sign dozens of documents they have had no chance to review. The documents contain hundreds of paragraphs of boilerplate printed in a tiny font. There’s no reason to “look out for the small print” because […]
Where you file bankruptcy is not supposed to make a difference, but it does. A client’s distance from the courthouse, comfort with an attorney, applicable law, practice and custom all differ from one district to the next. The rules concerning the venue of a bankruptcy case offer debtors a variety of choices in where to […]
