Category Archives: Chapter 7
Wait Times Between Bankruptcy Filings
Filing for bankruptcy feels like a reset, like accessing a bonus life in a video game, but how many bonus lives do you get? Seeing your debts disappear is exhilarating, or at least it brings you a feeling of relief, but then life goes on. Eventually, the record of the bankruptcy case even disappears… Read More »
Beware of Bottom of the Barrel Bankruptcy Filings
On the first business Monday of every year, employees of the family court order their morning coffee with an extra shot of espresso and head to work to find the biggest stack of new divorce filings that they will see all year. While epic fights during the holidays are the impetus behind some of… Read More »
The Ugly Truth About Filing for Bankruptcy Before Age 30
By now you have heard all the gloom and doom about how the current generation of young adults have had debt hanging over their heads since the minute they entered the workforce, if not earlier, and it will continue to follow them around for the rest of their lives, even if they live to… Read More »
Unpleasant Truths About Bankruptcy and Taxes
When you decide to file for bankruptcy, you can feel the emotional burden being lifted off of you even before the court discharges a penny of debt and even before you are sure of where you can get the money to pay for the bankruptcy filing. Bankruptcy will not solve all of your financial… Read More »
Can You Discharge Student Loans in Bankruptcy?
The good news is that everyone has the right to discharge unpayable debts in bankruptcy, but the bad news is that not all debts are eligible for discharge. In general, it is easy to discharge debts that you owe to private lenders, such as credit card companies and hospitals, but if the creditor is… Read More »
Preparing Documents for Your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filing
The most successful New Year’s resolutions are the ones you start working on in the old year. People who are really serious about losing weight adopt healthy habits starting now, to whatever extent they can, instead of procrastinating until some apparently auspicious date. The agony of smoking the tenth to last cigarette in what… Read More »
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Can Be a Relief If You Are Between Jobs
You have probably heard a lot of conflicting information about filing for bankruptcy. Filing for bankruptcy gets rid of all your debts, except when it doesn’t. The bankruptcy court can sell your possessions, except when it can’t. Everyone has the right to file for bankruptcy protection, but filing for bankruptcy costs money. Once you… Read More »
Filing for Bankruptcy Is Less Scary Than Defaulting on a Debt
What do you do when you cannot afford to repay a debt? All of your options fall into one of two categories, namely running away from the debt or confronting it. It is not possible to wish a debt out of existence. You cannot retcon your financial history to where you never promised to… Read More »
Is Filing for Bankruptcy Worth the Harm to Your Credit Score?
If filing for bankruptcy is so easy, why don’t more people do it? A lot of people do file for bankruptcy, some of them more than once, but you should not take the decision to go to bankruptcy court lightly. You can’t just buy anything you want on credit without giving any thought as… Read More »
Denial of Discharge in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cases
The best-case scenario in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case is that the bankruptcy court discharges all of your eligible debts and does not liquidate any of your assets. When this happens, you get to keep your house and your car, and the court discharges your credit card debts and your old medical bills. Therefore,… Read More »