Recent Blog Posts
Will My Employer Know If I File For Bankruptcy?
Although there is absolutely no shame or embarrassment in filing for bankruptcy, it is understandable that you may not want others to know you are doing it. Certainly some people–like close family–may be aware, but one person or entity that you may want to keep your bankruptcy from is your employer. Will your employer… Read More »
How Does A Creditor Become A Secured Creditor?
Secured property gets special treatment in the law. Unlike with unsecured debts, with secured debts, the creditor can take back any property that secures the debt. Unsecured creditors, like medical debt, or credit card debt or pure monetary judgments, don’t get this kind of treatment. Certainly, some debts in bankruptcy are legitimately secured. These… Read More »
What To Know About Inheritances And Bankruptcy
Even though you are filing for bankruptcy, there are some things that should be so special or so precious that they shouldn’t be taken in bankruptcy. One of those things is inheritance. Money or assets left to you by a loved one should be yours—after all, the loved one who left the property isn’t… Read More »
What Is A Cramdown In Bankruptcy?
Let’s say that you own a piece of property that is worth $500,000. The problem is that you owe $700,000 on the property, making it $200,000 upside down (or with negative equity of $200,000). Assuming that you don’t want to keep the property, you can surrender it, and although the property will be taken… Read More »
When Will A Florida Court Consider Homestead Property To Be Abandoned?
Florida has a strong bankruptcy exemption for homestead property. So long as property has been owned for a period of time before the bankruptcy is filed, and so long as the property is either less than ½ an acre, or 160 acres in designated rural areas, then it doesn’t matter how much equity you… Read More »
Contracts That Limit Or Take Away Your Bankruptcy Rights Are Not Enforceable
If you sign a contract, especially one that involves the payment of money, one party may know that the party that has to pay money could discharge their debt in bankruptcy. Or, a party may know that if the other files for bankruptcy it could affect that party’s ability to fulfill their obligations under… Read More »
All About Cars And Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is intended to give us a fresh start and allow us to be able to renew our financial lives. But that’s really hard to do without a car, especially in South Florida. What good is a bankruptcy, if you have no car when it’s over to get yourself to work and make money?… Read More »
Florida Bankruptcy Exemptions You May Not Have Known Existed
In bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court can take a debtor’s property and sell it to satisfy debts owed to creditors. But in reality, for most debtors, property will never be taken because of exemptions. Exemptions allow a debtor to protect property from being taken by the trustee. Some exemptions are relatively well known in Florida…. Read More »
What’s A 341 Meeting?
In most cases, bankruptcy, especially chapter 7 bankruptcy, is a relatively straightforward and quick process. Most bankruptcy filers won’t even have to go before a judge or in a courthouse. The only thing that a bankruptcy debtor will ever have to attend that is anywhere close to a court hearing is what is known… Read More »
Family Law Can Turn Dischargeable Debts Into Non Dischargeable Debts
Very often, divorce and bankruptcy go hand in hand. Yet, people who are filing for, or thinking about filing for divorce, rarely give thought to having a bankruptcy consultation before their divorce, so they understand how bankruptcy may affect them after their divorce. Support and Bankruptcy One aspect of divorce that can be affected… Read More »
