Joint bank accounts present one of the most vexing problems for a bankruptcy lawyer. Too often, your client is a signatory on an account containing someone else’s money. The parties think a joint account is a convenience; often it’s a hedge so that the client can care for a parent or other dependent person should […]
What You Need To Know About Conversion Of Bankruptcy Cases
Sometimes, the most challenging questions for a bankruptcy lawyer come up well after the case is filed. New assets are disclosed Values are greater than expected Income falls Illness intervenes Catastrophic debts arise For whatever reason, your initial choice of chapter is now problematic. That’s when you have to understand which way to go, now. You […]
Do You Believe in Magic Exemptions?
I commend to you 11 U.S.C. 522(c). For therein lies a magical tool even for the client who has non dischargeable debts. It boils down to this: exemptions, like diamonds, are forever. Once an exemption is allowed in a case that isn’t dismissed, that property is forever beyond the reach of creditors whose claim arose […]
What No One Told Me About Adversary Pleading
When I learn something new about bankruptcy after 30 years of practice, I don’t know whether to be ecstatic or scared witless. But learn something I did when I read the ABI Journal’s article on FRBP 7008(b). In short, FRBP 7008(b) requires that claims for an award of attorneys fees in an adversary complaint must […]
Keeping Watch Over Chapter 13 Claims
Do you remain on watch in your client’s Chapter 13 after confirmation? The attorney for the couple in my office yesterday apparently thought she was off duty after confirmation. As a result, the debtors paid more than $30,000 to the wrong creditor, the mortgage arrears weren’t paid, and their case is on the verge of dismissal […]
Time Can Be On Your Side
Lucky us. Not. We have a new, multipage model Chapter 13 plan in several Bay Area divisions. It exalts mathematic precision over the intentions of the plan. Have the wrong number for the fixed monthly payments to particular creditors, and the money is distributed, willy-nilly, to unsecured creditors. (There are other idiocies that I will surely […]
Fleshing Out Incorporation Before Bankruptcy
As Miss Manners might say, you, Gentle Reader, have a secret fan. A fairy god-lawyer, so to speak. She’s my law partner who watches the new bankruptcy lawyers around us, and pokes me: “You’ve got to tell them ….” Fill in the blank for the topic du jour. Renee thinks there’s more you should know […]
