Paying Your 2012 Income Taxes on the Backs of Your Other Creditors
If you expect to owe 2012 income taxes, and you file bankruptcy after December 31, that tax can be “included” in your case.
Dumping Your Chapter 7 Case Midstream, or Switching to a Chapter 13 One
You can usually change from an ongoing straight Chapter 7 case into a Chapter 13 payment plan. But getting out of bankruptcy altogether is generally not allowed.
Spouse Needs to Join Bankruptcy to Discharge Income Taxes, But Reluctant Because Has No Other Debts and Has Separate Asset
Finding the best way out of this seeming Catch-22 depends on a full understanding of your unique situation and your goals.
When Chapter 7s Are Not So Simple
The goal of most Chapter 7 cases is to get in and get out—file the petition, go to a simple 10-minute hearing with your attorney a month later, and two months later get your debts written off. Mission accomplished, end of story. And usually that’s how it goes. So when it doesn’t go that way, […]
The Trustee in Chapter 7
In bankruptcy you hear a lot about “the trustee.” What does this person do, in a “straight” Chapter 7 case, and in an “adjustment of debts” Chapter 13 one?
If Your Business is Eligible to File Bankruptcy, Should It Do So?
If your business has failed or is about to, it does NOT likely need a bankruptcy. But YOU personally might.
The Usually Easy to Answer First Question for Your Bankruptcy Attorney
In deciding between Chapter 7 and 13, get this question out of the way right away: “Can I keep everything I own if I file a Chapter 7 case?”
The Morality of the American Airlines Chapter 11 Reorganization
A corporation which files bankruptcy is considered to be proactively using a strategic business tool. But a human being who files bankruptcy is considered to be irresponsibly breaking promises to creditors. Let’s see if this difference in attitude makes sense using the example of the bankruptcy filing of American Airlines in late November. Selecting […]
The Purpose of Bankruptcy in the U.S. Constitution
The most respected early commentator on the Constitution fills in some historical gaps about bankruptcy and leads it in a better direction.
Keeping Everything You Own Through Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
One good reason that people filing Chapter 7 don’t lose any of their stuff to the bankruptcy trustee—if they did have something to lose, they would likely have filed a Chapter 13 instead. How does Chapter 13 protect what you’d otherwise lose in a Chapter 7 “straight bankruptcy”? As I said at the beginning of […]