For Californians, the CA Supreme Court’s decision in Brace upended our understanding of joint tenancy and community property. For decades, we “knew” that a property couldn’t be both joint tenancy and community property . Siberell. And for those of us in the 9th Circuit, we “knew” that when married folks acquired property with title taken […]
Chapter 13 Discharge Expanded by COVID Relief Legislation
Chapter 13 debtors got a huge “gift” among the COVID relief provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, signed December 27, 2020 by the president. Debtors may get a full -compliance discharge of dischargeable debts if they have a residential mortgage and have not made all the payments required by their plan. See the […]
New California Homestead in Action
The California homestead just changed, for the better, but it raised questions about how the single change affected the rest of the law. The newly enacted version of California Code of Civil Procedure 704.730 replaces the previous homestead system that pegged the amount of the available homestead to family relationships, including marriage, to age, or […]
Assessing the Ailing Business Post Pandemic
Long after the human patients recover from the coronavirus, small businesses will still be ailing. And long nights will be spent deciding whether to try to stay in business. As bankruptcy lawyers, we’re going to see people in pain trying to assess what to do next. Business owners may see the exit heading through the […]
Taxing Questions in Bankruptcy’s New Subchapter V
With the enactment of the Small Business Reorganization Act, Chapter 11 is expected to become more accessible and economic for business debtors with debts below the limits. For bankruptcy lawyers taking their first venture into Chapter 11, knowledge of the tax issues in reorganizations becomes critical. So, I’m happy to have attorney Steven Walker of […]
Coronavirus & The Law
In the face of pandemic and economic stasis, information is both vital and fleeting. I’m going to collect here links to sources of information useful to consumer lawyers as I find them. As always, check the dates on the linked resources, as I fully expect change, and more change as we work our way through […]
Mortgage Matters In Times Of COVID-19
Is it 2008 again? For us in the mortgage industry, we woke up this week feeling as if during the night, we were transported back to 2008 when the mortgage industry basically collapsed. Then, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA were the exceptions. As of March 25, 2020, like everything else, the world of […]
