Chapter 11

How to Protect Your Assets

It can be hard to understand why a bankruptcy attorney is worth the cost. After all, there are other services out there, such as ‘petition preparers’ and ‘debt relief agencies’. Sure they can help you file for bankruptcy for less money, right?

Yes, they certainly can.

But a bankruptcy attorney does more than just file your paperwork. Part of what makes a good bankruptcy attorney indispensible is all the work they do before they file your paperwork.

The law is almost intentionally confusing, and bankruptcy law more so. Every filing is unique because everyone’s financial situation is unique. Because there are different types of bankruptcy filing, a bankruptcy attorney will review all of your financial information, and discover which type of filing is best for you.

But there’s more. Beyond simply deciding which type of filing to use, a bankruptcy attorney will prepare you for it. What this means is that they know the best, legal ways to let you get the most out of your bankruptcy filing. This can be a difference of thousands of dollars, likely far more than you would actually pay your bankruptcy attorney.

So protecting your assets isn’t just about choosing the right bankruptcy Chapter to file, but about adapting your financial situation to get the absolute most benefit from that filing. And all of that happens before the filing actually begins.

If you want to know how to protect your assets, call a bankruptcy attorney before it’s too late!

Bankruptcy with Commercial Property

There are many different circumstances that can make filing bankruptcy more or less difficult. Filing for bankruptcy during or shortly after a divorce is always difficult, as is filing when you have unpaid tax debt.

However, another complication is when you own commercial property.

Commercial property can make your bankruptcy filing significantly more complicated due to all kinds of factors, such as extra loans that may be in default, problems with equity, income-producing properties, and many more.

Owning commercial property will also affect which type of bankruptcy you should file, Chapter 7, Chapter 11, or Chapter 13.

It’s extremely important that you speak to a professional bankruptcy attorney before you do anything else in preparation for filing for bankruptcy, because a good bankruptcy attorney will help you discover all of your options in the coming procedure.

It’s not just possible but likely that your bankruptcy attorney will advise several things for you to do before the bankruptcy filing, potentially even a short sale of your property.

Bankruptcy attorneys know the most important thing for your situation, which is how to get the most benefit out of your bankruptcy.

Since you can’t file for bankruptcy very often and the consequences can be long-lasting, you want to make absolutely sure that when you do file, you get the absolutely maximum benefits from it, and the further in advance you obtain the services of a good bankruptcy attorney, the more they’ll be able to do on your behalf.

Don’t wait any longer… Call and make an appointment today!

When to File for Bankruptcy

One of the hardest parts of filing for bankruptcy is deciding when to do it. You can think to yourself, “Bankruptcy is something you do when you don’t have any money,” but that isn’t really the case at all.

In our debt-driven economy, it’s hard to know when you don’t have enough money. That’s because banks lend money to encourage debt and spending, and it ends up hurting more people than it helps.

As a result, many people live entirely on credit. That is, when their paycheck comes in, it immediately goes to paying off credit cards, and then they live on the remaining money on those cards. Technically, at that point, you don’t have any money and you’re just living on borrowed money. But at the same time, you’re still able to afford the things you need to survive.

So when do you file for bankruptcy?

The answer is as soon as possible. The vast majority of people wait until far too late before filing for bankruptcy, and as a result are only able to reap limited benefits.

If you’re living entirely on borrowed money, it’s time to talk to a bankruptcy attorney and explore your options for debt resolution.

A good bankruptcy attorney will explore other options for you in addition to just bankruptcy, but the fact of the matter is that so many people wait too long to consider the bankruptcy process that by the time you’re thinking about calling a bankruptcy attorney, it’s probably time for you to file for bankruptcy!

The Consequences of Bankruptcy

In most cases, a well-filed bankruptcy can be the solution to all of your problems. It can clear most, or even all, of your debts so that you can put your money where it counts and turn your entire life around.

Bankruptcy can literally save your life.

But it’s not all fun and games, and there are people out there who will try to convince you that there are no downsides to filing for bankruptcy, and that just isn’t the case.

It’s always important to evaluate the consequences of something before you do it, which is why we like to let people know what to expect after their bankruptcy is over.

First of all, bankruptcy will affect your credit negatively, and it can stay on your credit report for up to ten years, depending on what chapter you file. Most of the other consequences are a result of this first one.

Secondly, it will almost certainly be difficult to get a loan for a year or two after your bankruptcy is over. When you do get a loan, it will likely be at a higher interest rate. You’ll need to build up a good credit history in order to qualify for better rates.

Thirdly, you may have difficulty getting a mortgage on a home for several years, so plan ahead!

These may be common sense to some people, but not everyone thinks about it. A well-filed bankruptcy really requires a lot of advance planning, or else it can cause problems for you down the road. That’s why it’s so important to use a bankruptcy attorney!

Bankruptcy vs. Insolvency

Many people don’t understand exactly what bankruptcy is, or what it means, due to so many prevalent misconceptions. It shouldn’t really be a big surprise, either, because most people who do file for bankruptcy tend to keep it private because the myth persists that filing for bankruptcy is somehow a bad thing.

Being ‘bankrupt’ has generally meant the same thing as ‘broke’. Which, of course, means that you have no money.

But having no money is entirely relative these days, since so many of us live on borrowed money: credit. How many times have you gotten a paycheck and immediately dumped that paycheck into paying off a credit card, and then lived off of that credit until the next paycheck?

If you’re considering bankruptcy, probably quite a few times.

So when do you decide that you’re broke? Technically you have no money if your money is in the form of credit, but at that point, you can still provide for yourself and live quite well.

Being insolvent is different. Insolvency is when you have more money going out than you have coming in. It means that no matter how much money you have, you’re slowly going to use it all up and are thus unable to ever pay off the debt that you accumulate.

It’s important to realize the distinction, because it’s when you’re insolvent that you need to begin thinking about filing for bankruptcy. You can happily live on credit and be technically broke, but as long as you still have an income that equals or exceeds your expenses, you’ll be fine. However, when you become insolvent, you need to seek help!

Pay Off Your Student Loans with Bankruptcy

Any time there’s a weak economy, there’s a boom in enrollment in higher education. That’s not really surprising, because if you can’t find a job, it makes perfect sense to go back to school so that when the economy picks up, you’re even more qualified for jobs.

But when the economy is slow to recover, that rush to go back to school creates a surplus of people with higher educations. So when things finally do recover, there are far too many people who are overqualified for the available jobs. Then in addition to not being able to find a job, those people are saddled with massive student loan debts.

Student loans are unlike any other kinds of loans because they’re underwritten by the United States government. On one hand, it’s great that the government provides money for people to go to school, but on the other hand, that loan can’t be cleared during a bankruptcy filing. That leaves many people so underwater with debt that they simply can’t ever recover.

However, there is a silver lining to this cloud. While the student loans themselves can’t be dismissed, any other debt that has accumulated can be. This means that any other money that was being spent to pay off other bills can then be put toward paying off the student loan.

It’s not ideal, but it can make all the difference for someone who is struggling to get by. Consider having a consultation with a bankruptcy attorney to explore your options!

The Effects of Bankruptcy on your Retirement

Many people start to get nervous around the time they’re supposed to retire, because they don’t want anything to jeopardize their retirement that they’ve worked hard for, for their entire lives. That’s why people who are about to retire can be extra concerned about filing for bankruptcy.

And who can blame them?

However, the reality of the situation is often different than they’ve built up in their minds, and of course it is. The world has changed a lot just in the last ten years, much less over the last thirty.

Now, bankruptcy is an important weapon in the consumer’s arsenal to help fight for their ability to control their own lives.

First of all, bankruptcy has several built-in protections for retirement. Most retirement funds and Social Security payments are automatically safe, so there’s no worry about not being able to retire.

Second, it’s only rarely that someone has to give up assets like their home or their car. Many exemptions are built into bankruptcy law to allow most people to keep their primary assets.

Most importantly, bankruptcy is no longer a sign of shame or defeat. If you look in the news, it’s easy to find an article about some extremely successful businessperson or company declaring bankruptcy, and history is full of people who have declared bankruptcy and gone on to build another fortune for themselves.

Bankruptcy is just a tool, and what matters is how you use it. So consult with a bankruptcy attorney and protect your retirement today!

The Consequences of Filing for Bankruptcy

Many firms out there who want to convince you to hire them for their services will downplay the consequences of filing for bankruptcy, or assure you that there are no significant consequences.

Unfortunately, that isn’t entirely true, and while the consequences are almost always better than the alternative had you not filed, they’re still worth considering.

For example, you may be told that filing for bankruptcy won’t affect your ability to get a loan, which is false. Bankruptcy will affect your ability to get a loan for several months to several years, depending on how you treat your credit after your filing. Still, even with that, most people have such a low credit rating by the time that they decide to file for bankruptcy that that effect will be almost negligible.

It will also be difficult to secure a mortgage during that time, though again, it likely would have been difficult, anyway.

The real trick to making the most use of filing for bankruptcy is to do it at just the right time so that any consequences that you may have suffered from filing are almost unnoticeable. That way you gain all the benefits with as few consequences as possible.

The only real way to know when bankruptcy is right for you is by consulting with a bankruptcy attorney. A reliable bankruptcy attorney will be straightforward with you about the downsides to filing, and if the timing isn’t right for you, they’ll tell you so!

Stopping Repossessions

We live in a society that focuses on material wealth, and as a result, we become very attached to the things that we own. But some of those things we become attached to because we need them in order to have a decent life, like a car and a home.

When someone threatens to take those things away from us, it’s upsetting because it can really affect our lives. And not just our lives, either, but our emotional wellbeing.

During turbulent times, people need stability in their lives in order to carry on, and having the threat of repossession hanging over your head takes away that safety even in the comfort of your own home.

The anxiety and stress caused by that lack of safety can affect every aspect of your life, and most importantly it can take away all of the joy you have.

If you live in constant fear of collections or repossessions, you should consider filing for bankruptcy. When you file for bankruptcy, the court issues an automatic stay on all types of collections and collection attempts.

That means that during the bankruptcy process, you no longer need to worry about your property. Even after the bankruptcy is over, chances are very good that your debts will either be cleared, or be taken down to a manageable level.

Using a good bankruptcy lawyer is the best way to do that, because the better your advocate during the bankruptcy process, the more rewards you’ll be able to reap!

Bankruptcy Misconceptions

Many misconceptions have been propagated about bankruptcy in both film and television, as well as by word of mouth.

The first mistake is that people look at bankruptcy as some sort of failure, or something to be ashamed of. As if filing for bankruptcy was a public admission of defeat. The fact of the matter is that you can fail all on your own without filing for bankruptcy, and actually taking the step of filing isn’t a sign of failure, but a sign that you’re taking control of your life back and you’re making the first step toward financial recovery.

But there are plenty of other misconceptions, such as that you’ll lose everything. In fact, bankruptcy has built-in protections, and it exists to help you, the consumer. In all likelihood, you’ll be able to keep both your home and your vehicle.

Some people think that bankruptcy will make them lose their retirement funds. In fact, bankruptcy can protect your retirement funds so that you can actually enjoy your retirement on schedule.

Some people think that bankruptcy will ruin your credit forever, and that they won’t be able to recover. Honestly, by the time most people consider filing for bankruptcy their credit is already ruined. Bankruptcy is the best way to help recover from a bad credit score.

While it may be hard to get a loan for a while after your bankruptcy, creditors like to see people who have had a successful bankruptcy and have turned their finances around. After some time elapses so that you can prove yourself, creditors will be very happy to give you loans because you’ll be a much safer investment!

So call a bankruptcy attorney today, and get started!

Do I Have to Lose my Home?

Filing for bankruptcy often comes with a lot of unwanted baggage, such as stress, doubt, worry, and fear. Will I lose everything? Can I recover?

One of the most common fears is that people will lose their home, and rightly so. Homes are more than just a place to live, they provide safety and security, which are both necessary for good mental and physical health.

Thankfully, bankruptcy law allows for a sixty thousand dollar home exemption. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Most homes can be anywhere from eighty thousand to three hundred thousand dollars, which makes sixty thousand seem pretty inadequate.

The exemption isn’t for home value, though, it’s for your home equity. For example, if you own a house that’s worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and still owe ninety thousand dollars for your mortgage, that means that you have sixty thousand dollars in equity in the home. Your equity is the amount that you’ve already paid. It’s your ownership stake.

Most people filing for bankruptcy don’t have anywhere near sixty thousand dollars’ worth of equity in their homes, and especially considering how home prices and interest rates have fallen in the last few years, the likelihood that you’ll be able to keep your home is pretty good!

Rather than leaving it up to chance, though, it’s a good idea to make an appointment to consult with a bankruptcy attorney who can go over your finances and tell you for sure whether you can keep your home. It’s worth the peace of mind!

Bankruptcy and Divorce Payments

When you get divorced, it can be hard, especially when there are children involved. It can be hard enough to pay your own bills, but having to pay someone else’s bills, too? That can be quite a struggle!

Alimony and child support payments exist for a reason, though, and failure to pay them can directly result in someone else, possibly your children, going without food.

So what happens when you file for bankruptcy? Will the court discharge your alimony or child support payments? Not usually, no.

When you owe money to a creditor, that money goes into their bank accounts. But when you owe money to another person, that money goes directly into the things that they need to live. That’s why the courts usually won’t discharge alimony or child support payments unless there are significant mitigating circumstances.

However, bankruptcy can still be an immense benefit to you if you’re struggling with those payments. By having all of your other debts reduced or eliminated, that money that you used to pay to creditors can instead go to people who will actually appreciate it, and for whom it will make a difference in their life.

It’s best to secure the services of a bankruptcy attorney when dealing with complicated situations such as divorce or child support, because only a bankruptcy attorney will know how to properly represent those situations in court so that everyone can receive the highest level of benefits from your bankruptcy process.

You can only file for bankruptcy once every several years, so be sure that you make the most of it!

You Can Protect Your Inheritance

In movies and television, we’re all familiar with the classic cliché of the main character being left money or the family property from a dead relative. Often it’s the start of some sort of adventure, or life-changing experience.

There’s a reason for that: an inheritance is usually a very important event in your life, because the things that you’re left behind are often very significant to you, especially in the case of property.

But what happens when you’re left, say, your family home, but you’re so overwhelmed by debt that you’re afraid that you’ll be made to sell it? You can file for bankruptcy, but won’t they make you liquidate it?

Without a good bankruptcy attorney? Yes, absolutely. The court can and will seize inherited assets and sell them in order to pay your creditors.

But when you have a bankruptcy attorney, they know exactly how to fight for you in court, and how to protect your assets.

There are many exemptions built into bankruptcy law, but unless you know how to use them, they’re useless.

The fact of the matter is that it isn’t the court’s job to protect your assets, it’s their job to do whatever they can to take them away from you. That’s why you need a defender, someone who can stand up to the court and not let them do whatever they want.

If you’ve recently received an inheritance and are considering filing for bankruptcy, don’t wait to consult with a bankruptcy attorney, because the longer you wait, the worse it can be!

Why Choose a Bankruptcy Attorney?

We’ve said this many times on this blog, but the simple fact of the matter is that far too many people wait far too long to file for bankruptcy.

Why is that?

There are many reasons, of course, because everyone’s situation is unique, but rather than not wanting to, most people just don’t know when is the right time to file for bankruptcy.

That’s why it’s important to consult with a bankruptcy attorney before making any other decisions, even if it’s just choosing whether or not to file.

There are a number of options out on the market for debt relief, and it can be hard to choose the one that’s right for you. After all, why call a bankruptcy attorney if you’re unsure about filing for bankruptcy?

Many bankruptcy attorneys will offer a free first consultation, even if it’s just a phone appointment. During that time, they can answer a variety of questions about financial matters, and can even recommend whether or not bankruptcy is right for you.

Part of a good bankruptcy attorney’s job is to determine what’s best for you, the client. If that involves sending you somewhere else because you wouldn’t benefit from bankruptcy, well, so be it.

Still, since so many people wait too long before inquiring about bankruptcy, the odds are good that if you’re even contemplating whether it would be right for you, it probably is right for you.

Remember, the longer you wait, the less benefits your bankruptcy filing will give you, so act now and make an appointment with a bankruptcy attorney!

Filing for Bankruptcy and Keeping Your Car

Many people worry that when they file for bankruptcy, they won’t be able to keep any of their assets, and that they’ll have to start over with nothing. Thankfully, this is far from the truth!

There are situations in which you could potentially end up with very little, but that’s why it’s important to hire a bankruptcy attorney who will make sure that you get the most benefit out of a bankruptcy filing while sacrificing as little as possible.

It’s entirely likely, for example, that you’ll be able to keep your car outright, with no problems.

Bankruptcy law allows you to keep up to five thousand dollars’ worth of equity in your vehicle, and while that may not sound like a lot, remember that equity isn’t the same thing as the car’s worth.

For example, if you owe fifteen thousand dollars on a twenty thousand dollar car, you only have five thousand dollars’ worth of equity in that car, because five thousand is the amount that you own. It’s entirely possible that you may even have NO equity in the vehicle, if it’s price has dropped. That would make the car technically a liability, and could be kept.

If you have a leased vehicle, you also have no equity in the car, and can keep it.

Further, if you entirely own your car, and it’s an older model, it may not even be worth five thousand dollars total. Even more than that, if you’re married, the vehicle exemption rises to ten thousand dollars!

So see a bankruptcy attorney today, and get the most out of your bankruptcy!

Stopping Wage Garnishing

Most people aren’t familiar with the idea of wage garnishing until it happens to them, which is unfortunate because it often makes their situation even worse.

When you work at a job, you expect that money to go into your pocket. After all, you’re doing the work, therefore you should get the money. It’s always painful to watch the US government take so much away from each paycheck, but you deal with it anyway, because there’s no way around it.

That makes it even worse when creditors garnish your wages. Wage garnishing is what happens when a creditor gets a court order that compels your employer to take money away from your paycheck and pay it directly to them. You have no choice in the matter, either, but to just watch that money go away.

In some cases, that garnishment can even make it impossible for you to pay your other bills, or even pay for food.

If you’re facing a situation like that, the best possible thing to do is to file for bankruptcy. If you’re at a point where your wages are being garnished, chances are that you would benefit immensely from bankruptcy.

As soon as you file for bankruptcy, the court issues an automatic stay that prevents your wage garnishment. Suddenly, all that money goes directly back to you again.

And by the time the bankruptcy is over, those debts will probably be settled, so you’ll never have to deal with it again!

Have a consultation with a bankruptcy attorney, and see how you can benefit from bankruptcy!

Bankruptcy’s Automatic Stay

When considering whether or not to file for bankruptcy, it’s important to look at the benefits that bankruptcy will provide for you. However, many people fail to take into account the benefits that go beyond the purely financial.

It’s easy to look at the numbers as concrete proof of your situation, but in almost every case, there are emotional problems that come along with debt.

Creditors can be ruthless in their efforts to get you to pay them, and it can be really frustrating, especially when you just don’t have any money to give them. It can get to the point where you’re afraid to answer your phone when you see a phone number that you don’t recognize, because you don’t want to have to talk to yet another collector.

If the debts go for long enough, the creditors may be threatening to take your property, and that can cause even higher levels of stress, fear, and hopelessness.

One of the many benefits of filing for bankruptcy is the automatic stay that the court issues on debt collection. What that means is that within a day or two of filing for bankruptcy, all attempts to collect debts from you will stop. No phone calls, no letters, nothing.

While the stay is only temporary, almost all of your debts will be resolved by the end of the bankruptcy process, so the collections will in most cases never resume!

Do yourself a favor and hire a bankruptcy attorney to take care of your case. Even a free consultation will give you the hope and strength that you need to enjoy life again!

Bankruptcy and Divorce

Divorce is a messy business at the best of times, but sometimes it happens at the worst of times and that’s when bankruptcy can be your shelter in the storm.

In Colorado, alimony and child support payments will always take priority over payments to other creditors, and as well they should. In that case, you’re directly supporting another person’s life, not just throwing money at a business that probably already has too much of it. Withdrawing that money can have immediate consequences.

At the same time, though, you simply may not be able to make those payments and still maintain an acceptable lifestyle, especially with mounting debts. That’s where bankruptcy comes in.

While bankruptcy can’t discharge alimony or child support entirely, it can provide a chance for you and your former spouse to renegotiate the terms of your support, and can influence court decisions regarding those renegotiations.

Further, bankruptcy can clear your other debts so that you can reallocate those assets to alimony and child support.

It’s important to file for bankruptcy before you start to miss your alimony or child support payments, because the court will look poorly on that, and additionally, the automatic stay provided by bankruptcy can give you extra time to reorganize your finances.

Lastly, bankruptcy can help you with things that you have joint custody of, such as mortgages and car payments. Your share of those things can be reduced, or even entirely discharged.

If your situation with a divorce is making it hard for you to live, consider filing for bankruptcy with an experienced bankruptcy attorney!

Bankruptcy and Student Loans

Many students today graduate with more loans than they can easily pay off, and if they can’t find a job or lose their job for some reason, it can be very easy to slip into a position where they may need to file for bankruptcy. After all, they don’t teach you in school how to manage accounts, budget your money, or find a job!

Bankruptcy provides a way to if not immediately discharge your debts, then at least a way to reduce your debts to a reasonable level. It can be the difference between sinking or swimming, and it can really turn someone’s life around, especially if they’ve lost hope.

But student loans are a different story altogether. Because they come from the federal government, it is extremely difficult to get them discharged.

In a worst-case scenario, filing for bankruptcy will discharge your credit card debt, allowing you to use that money to pay your student loan instead, but in a best-case scenario, your student loan can actually be discharged itself under certain circumstances.

Getting a student loan discharged is extremely unlikely without a skilled bankruptcy attorney working on the case. While you can take your chances with a regular bankruptcy by filing it yourself, or with an unlicensed ‘debt relief agency’, the likelihood of getting a student loan discharged without a fully-licensed and experienced bankruptcy attorney is slim to none.

Don’t take a chance on something so important, because it may be many years before you have the chance to file for bankruptcy again. Don’t waste the opportunity by using someone other than a bankruptcy attorney!

Is Filing for Bankruptcy Bad?

Bankruptcy can be a confusing concept, largely due to the name. Being ‘bankrupt’, is usually taken to mean that you’re broke, and that you have no money whatsoever. Frequently when we think of bankrupt people, we think of homeless beggars on the street who have no job other than collecting alms.

In reality, people who are bankrupt still have money, but that money is owed to other people. So filing for bankruptcy, ironically, can actually give you more money.

The reason for this is that most people who file for bankruptcy still have a stream of income. The problem is that they’ve accumulated so much debt to various creditors that that stream of income simply isn’t enough to both support them and pay back their debts.

So when they file for bankruptcy, most (if not all) of those debts are simply absolved and just go away. The income that was previously going to creditors is now entirely theirs again, meaning that they have more money for themselves.

While on one hand, bankruptcy is an admission that you are insolvent, it’s only the first step in fixing the problem. In a sense, you can look at bankruptcy as a new beginning. It will provide you with the opportunity to start over, and there’s no shame in that. In the same way that Unemployment Benefits exist for people who have lost their jobs, so too does bankruptcy exist for those people who have been taken advantage of by creditors.

Don’t miss your opportunity for a clean start because you thought that bankruptcy was a bad thing!