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Do I file jointly with my spouse or can I just file alone? Every prospective bankruptcy filer in the state of Oregon asks this question. Many Portland and Salem filers just don’t want their spouses involved, particularly if the would be filer just isn’t comfortable with the potential impact it could have on their spouse. For other prospective Oregon Bankruptcy filers, the idea of dragging their spouse through the filling process just isn’t particularly appealing.
Remember that if you file together in Oregon, the available exemptions for protecting your real and personal property will nearly double. The cost of filing bankruptcy will remain the same(well with our firm anyway) and you will get rid of all your spouse’s debts as well as yours.
You should consider that filing separately is still going to subject your spouse to some of the bankruptcy process. She won’t need to sign anything or appear at any hearing, but your attorney is still going to need all her paystubs for the seven months or so prior to filing and, as likely as not, her tax return, even if she filed separately. Moreover, your Oregon bankruptcy attorney will still need a summary of her ongoing living expenses.
The one upside to having your spouse not file is that the bankruptcy should not appear on her credit. The question is how much is that really worth if you have debts in common. In Oregon, chances are if some of your debt is jointly held, filing alone to save her credit is probably a mistake. In contrast, if you live right across the Columbia river in Vancouver, Washington, it might make all the sense in the world. For an explanation of why this is so or anything regarding a potential joint bankruptcy filing, please feel free to give me a call or set an appointment at either our Portland or Salem, Oregon Bankruptcy Law Offices or at our Vancouver, Washington Bankruptcy Law Office.
The original post is titled Joint Bankruptcy Filing in Oregon , and it came from Oregon Bankruptcy Lawyer | Portland, Salem, and Vancouver, Wa .
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney And Saving Property Being a Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney puts me in a unique situation. It allows me to help somebody either save a home from foreclosure or save a vehicle from repossession or otherwise reorganize unsecured and secured debt over a period of 3 to 5 years. When people come+ Read MoreThe post Why Do I Like Being A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney? appeared first on David M. Siegel.
Bringing you the most up-to-date news, tips and blogs throughout the web. Here’s your Bankruptcy Update for February 13, 2014 Drake And Josh Star, Drake Bell, Files For Bankruptcy, Owes $1.6 Million Milwaukee Archdiocese files reorganization plan with bankruptcy court Rihanna’s near bankruptcy revealed
A bankruptcy filing can immediately stop foreclosure in most cases when proceedings have yet to be finalized. Bankruptcy may help homeowners buy more time in determining their next move including whether or not they want to keep their home. This is also a good time for debtors to review with their bankruptcy attorney about their [...]
You need to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and you live in the Central Valley of California. You may be wondering whether you can keep your car in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Either your car is paid for, or you are still making payments. If your car is paid for, you can exempt from your bankruptcy several thousand dollars of the value of your car. If your car is worth more than several thousand dollars, you can apply wild card exemption wild card exemptions to exempt the remaining value.
If you are making payments on your car, you only need to exempt the equity you own in your car. If your car is worth $12,000, but $10,000 is financed, then you only need to exempt $2,000. Your lender, however, will seek to have you reaffirm the financing agreement. Reaffirmation is like renewing your agreement with the creditor or title holder of the vehicle. You and the lender define an agreement that allows you to keep the vehicle after their bankruptcy case is completed. You may agree to repay all or a portion of the outstanding balance remaining on the loan. Most lenders in the Central Valley will require payment of the full outstanding balance. They will sometimes lower the interest rate.
Another option is to redeem the vehicle by making a lump-sum payment that often adds up to be the vehicle’s total value. Because you are filing bankruptcy, you will not likely be in a position to do this, making reaffirmation the most realistic solution.
A vehicle that has payments still owed on it is part of a secured loan agreement you originally made in the beginning. A lien against the vehicle makes it possible for the lender to repossess it when payments are not made. In Chapter 7 the lien still survives if you discharge what is owed or payments you missed, but reaffirmation can help you keep your vehicle when your case is completed as long as you make payments according to the new agreement.
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Will You Lose Your Car After Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? You should be able to keep your car after filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy. In a nut shell, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy allows debtors to keep all exempt property, such as clothes, tools, retirement funds and cars. In the Fresno area, most chapter 7 cases result in debtors keeping all of their property because after an analysis, it is all found to be protected with bankruptcy exemptions. The idea of exemptions is to allow for debtors to get a reasonable fresh start. In other words, there are limits -- you can keep the Honda, but not the Tesla or Porsche. Here are the steps to see if you can keep your car: Step 1: If You Sold Your Car, How Much Money Would You Profit? If you sold your car, how much profit would you make? If your car is paid off, you will be able keep 100% of the proceeds of the sale of the car. The profit would be the total amount you sold the car.
If the car is financed, than the profit would be the money left over after the car lender was paid. If the car sold for $10,000, and the present loan value was $8,000, than your profit would be $2,000. If the car is sold for $10,000 and the present loan value is $11,000, there would be no profit ($0.00). In fact, to make the sale take place, you would have to pay the lender an additional $1000 for the lender to take the lien off of the car.
Step 2: Apply the Appropriate Exemption Amount. In California, debtors have two exemption amounts to choose from with regard to cars. The two choices are based upon whether you will be protecting the equity in your home. In California, you can protect a lot of equity in your home. (See How Much Money Can I Keep When I File Bankruptcy?) As a result, exemptions on personal property is greatly reduced.
If You Have Equity In Home You Are Claiming ExemptIf you have equity in your home, the amount of equity you are allowed to exempt in cars is reduced. Presently, the car exemption is $2,725.
If You Are Not Protecting Home EquityIf you are not protecting any equity in your home, you can protect more! Presently the total exemption value for multiple cars is $4,800.
If there is more equity than $4,800, debtors are allowed to use a "wildcard" exemption of approximately $25,000.
Thus, in many cases, filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy will allow debtors to keep their car.
Attorney Ken Jorgensen is located in Clovis, California. He handles personal, property and business disputes, including bankruptcy and eviction cases. You can find out more about Ken on Facebook, or at his websites, www.fresnolawgroup.com and www.fresnobankruptcylawgroup.com. He can be reached at [email protected] or by telephone at 1-559-324-1882.
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The January 30, 2007 case of In re Schwarz, __ B.R. ___, 2007 WL247649 (Bkrtcy.S.D. Fla.)(Olson, J.) held certain real property as exempt from administration in the estate under 11 522 (b)(3)(B) which allows for the exemption of any interest in property which the debtor held as tenants by the entireties to the extent that it is exempt from process under applicable nonbankruptcy law.
In this case, the debtor was unable to exempt his real property under the Florida homestead provision of Art. X Section 4 (a)(1) of the Florida Constitution as the new provisions of BAPCPA of 11 USC 522 (b)(3) required the debtor to use the Maryland exemptions as the debtor had not been a domiciliary of Florida for the entire 730 day period prior to filing of the bankruptcy case. The parties agreed that Maryland does not provide for a specific homestead exemption. Nonetheless, the debtor was able to exempt his entire interest in the real property in Florida as he held it as tenants by the entireties on the date of filing pursuant to section 522 (b)(3)(B).
It is significant that the Court looked to Florida tenants by the entireties law as the "applicable nonbankruptcy law" for such determination and not Maryland law.
Property held by a debtor in a tenancy by the entireties is exempt from the claims of individual creditors in bankruptcy under Florida common law with certain exceptions for joint creditors or fraudulent conveyances. In this case, there were no joint creditors nor any indication of a fraudulent conveyance.
Interestingly enough, section 522 (b)(3)(B) does not require the debtor to be residing in the property on the date of filing, but only requires that the debtor hold an interest in the property as a tenant by the entireties immediately before the commencement of the case. In this case, the debtor did not move into the property until after the filing of the case but held an interest in the property as a tenant by the entireties before the commencement of the case.(305) 891-4055 - Jordan E. Bublick is a Miami Bankruptcy Lawyer with over 25 years of experience in filing Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 Bankrkuptcy Cases.
First Payment After Chapter Bankruptcy Is Filed If you have filed chapter 13 bankruptcy, you are required to begin making plan payments within 30 days after your bankruptcy petition is submitted to the court. These payments are held by the trustee until your confirmation is approved or denied by the court. If the court denies […]
By Mary Ann Gorman
Nickelodeon's Drake Bell, formerly known as "Drake" from the show Drake & Josh has filed for bankruptcy.
Drake Bell is 27 years old and has experienced an income roller coaster in the last couple of years. In 2012, Drake made $408,000, while in 2013 he brought in $14,099.
His month expenses are reportedly greater than $18,000, while his monthly income is under $3,000.
Bankruptcy documents indicate that Drake owes $1.597 million on his home. The property is valued at $1.575 million.
Under present Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, a mortgage secured only by a principal residence is not modifiable in Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Chapter 13 law does though allow one to cure and reinstate the arrearage on such a mortgage. Also a wholly unsecured or "underwater" second mortgage on a principal residence may be avoided.
The rule against mortgage modification though does not apply to mortgages on a second home or investment property and such mortgage are generally modifiable.
Under the Bankruptcy Court's new "Loss Mitigation Mediation" program, one may be able to obtain a modification of his mortgage. The Bankruptcy Court appoints a mediator who assists in negotiating a modification. Modification of a principal residence mortgage may include various provisions of the mortgage. First and foremost, modification may include a reduction in the interest rate, the monthly payment and the amount due down to the value of the real estate. .(305) 891-4055 - Jordan E. Bublick is a Miami Bankruptcy Lawyer with over 25 years of experience in filing Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 Bankrkuptcy Cases.
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