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Your bankruptcy case should never close without a discharge. To prevent this from happening, you must complete a two hour financial management course at some time after your case is filed and prior to discharge. This gives you a window of approximately three months to complete the financial management course. If you fail to do+ Read More
The post Don’t Let Your Bankruptcy Case Close Without A Discharge appeared first on David M. Siegel.
Are you contemplating filing a Walworth County bankruptcy this year? Have you thought about whether it is best to file bankruptcy before or after filing income taxes? This is something you definitely want to think about before you submit your Walworth County bankruptcy petition. Our Walworth County bankruptcy attorney can help you decide when to file.
File a Walworth County Chapter 7 Bankruptcy After Filing Income Taxes
Our Walworth County bankruptcy attorney suggests filing bankruptcy after filing your income taxes. In most cases, this is the best scenario. If you file a Walworth County bankruptcy before you file your 2015 income taxes, your tax refund will become property of the bankruptcy estate and distributed among your creditors. Unless your 2015 income tax refund is exempt, you will lose it.
How can you file a Walworth County Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and Keep Your Income Tax Refund?
There is a way. One thing our Walworth County bankruptcy attorney needs to make clear is that you cannot receive your income tax refund, spend it on frivolous items, and expect to keep it. If the bankruptcy trustee knows you received an income tax refund check, he or she will ask where it went. If you spent the check on luxury items, you may have to repay the amount spent to the bankruptcy trustee. This being said, your 2015 income tax refund must be spent on necessities. You will be allowed to keep your income tax refund if you file your income tax return before filing for bankruptcy and spend the refund on life necessities, such as: groceries, medical items, car repairs, etc.
You can are also allowed to pay your bankruptcy attorney fees with your income tax refund check without having to repay the money back to the bankruptcy trustee. For this reason, tax season is one of the best times to file for bankruptcy. You can easily afford your bankruptcy attorney fees by using your income tax refund. You won’t have to struggle by taking money out of your weekly checks.
File a Walworth County Chapter 13 Bankruptcy After Filing Income Taxes
When filing a Walworth County Chapter 13 bankruptcy, all income tax returns over the past four years must be filed before the meeting of creditors. In this situation, you have no choice but to file your 2015 income taxes before filing a Walworth County Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
File a Walworth County Bankruptcy After Filing Taxes
No matter which type of bankruptcy you file, Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, the bankruptcy trustee will ensure all required tax returns have been filed, this year and previous years. If you have any unfiled tax returns, the bankruptcy trustee may think you are hiding financial information. This will not only delay your bankruptcy process, but it will also cause the bankruptcy trustee to dig deeper into your case. Always be up front and honest will your Walworth County bankruptcy attorney and the bankruptcy trustee.
Schedule a Free Bankruptcy Consultation with our Walworth County Bankruptcy Attorney
If you are considering a bankruptcy this year and have questions, please contact our Walworth County bankruptcy attorney. Wynn at Law, LLC offers free, in-depth bankruptcy consultations. Our Walworth County bankruptcy attorney is here to listen, advice, and help you during your financial difficulties. You can reach our Walworth County bankruptcy attorney by phone at 262-725-0175 or by email via our website’s contact page. Wynn at Law, LLC has bankruptcy offices conveniently located in Salem, Delavan, Muskego, and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
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*The content and material on this web page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Bankruptcy is a process that permits people to discharge debts, but not all debts are dischargeable. In a recent opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (the “District Court”) reversed a U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (the “Bankruptcy Court”) ruling that a state court criminal restitution claim is dischargeable. Read More ›
Tags: Chapter 7, Eastern District of Michigan
Tax Refunds Time It’s that time of year again. This is the time when many debtors look forward to receiving their federal and state income tax refunds. Debtors rely on these refunds all year long to get them through this period of time. Throw in the bankruptcy wrinkle. A debtor who is struggling financially seeks+ Read More
The post Your Tax Refund May Not Be Safe In A Chapter 7 Nor In A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case appeared first on David M. Siegel.
Global Client Solutions got $61.50 from C H and pays up $1500. C H, like many of my bankruptcy clients, tried to “settle” her debts before talking to a bankruptcy lawyer. She paid $1,133.48 to Global Client Solutions as part of a debt settlement plan, before she realized NONE of the money was going to […]The post Global Client Solutions Pays Us $1500. by Robert Weed appeared first on Robert Weed.
Global Client Solutions got $61.50 from C H and pays up $1500. C H, like many of my bankruptcy clients, tried to “settle” her debts before talking to a bankruptcy lawyer. She paid $1,133.48 to Global Client Solutions as part of a debt settlement plan, before she realized NONE of the money was going to […]
The post Global Client Solutions Pays Us $1500. by Robert Weed appeared first on Robert Weed.
In most chapter 13 bankruptcy cases, upon confirmation, a monthly payment is set in place and it will not vary. However, there is always an exception to this rule. In some circumstances, the debtor can bring a motion to modify the plan such as a case where there is a significant decrease in income. Well+ Read More
The post When Your Chapter 13 Plan Payment Is Not Written In Stone? appeared first on David M. Siegel.
Not every married couple files a joint chapter 13 bankruptcy case. However, the income and expenses of the non-filing party is critical in determining how much the filer has to pay per month to a Chapter 13 trustee and for how long. This relatively new concept stems back to the bankruptcy reform of October 17,+ Read More
The post The Importance Of The Non-Filing Spouse In Chapter 13 Bankruptcy appeared first on David M. Siegel.
When a chapter 13 case is up for confirmation, the court, the trustee and the debtor must comply with section 1129 of 11 U.S.C. This section deals with confirmation of a plan and it lists all the different factors that must be complied with for the court to sign an order confirming the plan. Most+ Read More
The post Confirmation Of A Chapter 13 Plan: The Liquidation Test appeared first on David M. Siegel.
Here at Shenwick & Associates, we play for both sides–both debtors and creditors. One issue that both debtors and creditors are intensely concerned about is the “automatic stay” imposed by § 362 of the Bankruptcy Code. The automatic stay is an injunction that tolls legal actions by creditors (with a few limited exceptions) against debtors. The automatic stay takes effect when a bankruptcy petition is filed.
In many cases, debtors contact us prior to a court hearing or a foreclosure sale to invoke the protection of the automatic stay to stop these proceedings. In the case of a debtor who’s a party to a collection action, once the bankruptcy petition is filed, the collection is stayed and barring a successful objection to the discharge of the debt, the debt will be discharged in bankruptcy (the exceptions to discharge are complex, vary from chapter to chapter and are beyond the scope of this article). Although the automatic stay stops enforcement mechanisms in actions (such as debt collection and foreclosure sales) and the commencement or continuation of legal proceedings, it does not bar the ministerial act of entry of judgment against a debtor.
From the creditor’s perspective, the automatic stay serves to bar the creditor from exercising their rights and remedies under applicable non–bankruptcy law. Fortunately, there are some strategies that creditors can use to obtain relief from the automatic stay. If a debtor has a pending bankruptcy case and files a new case, a new filing will be presumptively considered to be in bad faith; the automatic stay in the new case will only last for 30 days, unless a request to continue the automatic stay is made by a party in interest and the debtor can demonstrate that the new case was filed in good faith. And if a debtor has had two pending cases in the past year, the third filing will not trigger the automatic stay without an order from the bankruptcy court.
However, the primary method for creditors to circumvent the automatic stay is by filing a motion for relief from the automatic stay pursuant to § 362(d) of the Bankruptcy Code, which provides that:
On request of a party in interest and after notice and a hearing, the court shall grant relief from the stay provided under subsection (a) of this section, such as by terminating, annulling, modifying, or conditioning such stay—for cause, including the lack of adequate protection of an interest in property of such party in interest; with respect to a stay of an act against property under subsection (a) of this section, if—the debtor does not have an equity in such property; and such property is not necessary to an effective reorganization;
“Adequate protection” is discussed in § 361 of the Bankruptcy Code, and is required to protect secured creditors from a decrease in the value of their collateral between a bankruptcy filing and confirmation of a plan. Section 361 lists several examples of adequate protection, including single or periodic cash payments.
Although § 362(d)(1) specifically references adequate protection, that’s only one example of “cause,” which can also include the filing of a Chapter 13 plan in bad faith or the Debtor’s failure to make post–petition payments on the secured claim.
With respect to § 362(d)(2), the Supreme Court has held that once a party moving for relief from the automatic stay establishes that a debtor has no equity in a property, it’s the burden of the debtor to establish that the collateral at issue is necessary to an effective reorganization. Section 362(g) places the burden of proof regarding the Debtor’s equity in property on the party moving for relief from the automatic stay, but the burden of proof on all other issues is on the party opposing relief.
Whether you’re a debtor or a creditor, please contact Shenwick & Associates to discuss how the automatic stay in bankruptcy will affect your rights.
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