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A new court opinion issued by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals declares that alimony is part of the bankruptcy estate and can be liquidated by the Chapter 7 Trustee unless a specific state exemption protecting the alimony award exists.  In re Mehlhaff, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 944 (Bankr. D.S.D., Mar. 12, 2013).
Prior to filing bankruptcy in 2012, Laura Mehlhaff received an award of $200 per month alimony until her minor child reached age eighteen in 2014.  The opinion does not state whether the alimony would terminate upon the death of Laura or her ex-husband or upon the remarriage of Laura, but most alimony awards terminate upon the occurrence of either event.  However, it appears that South Dakota law provides that alimony is a property right and the Supreme Court of South Dakota in another case allowed a creditor to place a lien against an award of alimony.

if alimony is the kind of property right to which a lien can attach, it is the kind of property right that becomes property of the estate when a bankruptcy is filed.  In re Mehlhaff.

The bad news is that Nebraska does not have a specific exemption law protecting alimony, and it appears that the 8th Circuit may have overruled a prior Nebraska bankruptcy opinion declaring that monthly alimony payments were not part of the bankruptcy estate.  In re Loftus, Nebraska case number 97-82311.  In that case Judge Mahoney ruled that:

A plain reading of the language of the divorce decree in question indicates that each month [the debtor] is entitled to the payments only if she is alive, her ex-husband is alive, and she is not remarried. . . .The Court finds that the alimony payments from [the debtor’s] ex-husband accrue each month.

In other words, since the alimony accrues each month, there is not a present right to receive the future payments and the alimony is not a property right. 
The Nebraska Supreme Court has spoken on the issue of whether alimony is a property right.  “This court on numerous occasions has held that alimony and allocation of property rights are distinguishable and have different purposes in marriage dissolution proceedings, but they are still closely related in the matter of determining the amount to be allowed.”  McBride v. McBride, 211 Neb. 459 (Neb. 1982). 
The question for Nebraska bankruptcy attorneys and Trustees is whether the 8th Circuit’s opinion in Mehlhaff overrules Judge Mahoney’s opinion in Loftus.  What was once settled law in Nebraska is now no longer clear until a new opinion is issued or until the Nebraska legislature provides an alimony specific exemption law. 
Until this issue is clarified, I would advise debtors holding significant alimony awards in Nebraska to avoid Chapter 7 and opt for the safer waters of Chapter 13. 

Under both the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as well as the state consumer laws of Washington and Oregon, a collector may contact certain 3rd parties in connection with a consumer’s debt. A collector may contact a consumer’s attorney, the original creditor and its employees and legal counsel, the consumer’s spouse or guardian, a co-debtor and the consumer’s parent if the debtor happens to be a minor.
It’s a pretty short list and if a collector is contacting someone you know who isn’t on this list, a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act has likely already occurred.
The original post is titled , and it came from Oregon Bankruptcy Lawyer | Portland, Salem, and Vancouver, Wa .

When people are in financial distress they feel that they cannot afford a “high priced attorney” to help them get a fresh start.  Unfortunately this leads many Debtors to seek out the help of the cheapest attorney they can find.  They call around and inquire about price and book an appointment with the attorney who promises them the lowest fees.  However, bankruptcy is a specialized field that requires an attorney who understands all aspects of the bankruptcy forms, practice and pitfalls.  Individuals who charge cut rate fees generally fall into one of two categories.  They tend to be either general practitioners who have an “experienced paralegal” running their bankruptcy preparation or attorneys newer to bankruptcy who believe that lower fees will help them break into the market.  Because of this, the attorney cannot afford to spend the time learning every aspect of their bankruptcy practice.  Additionally, they cannot spend enough time on each individual case to ensure that the client is fully protected.
The reason that this is such a huge danger to Debtors is that the bankruptcy code is full of pitfalls that are not always readily understandable by individuals in financial distress.  Newer attorneys and general practitioners generally do not understand that every question on the bankruptcy forms is being asked for a reason.  Every issue that comes up as a result of those questions needs to be addressed prior to filing to help ensure that the Debtor receives the best possible results.

To give an example, the other day I was down in court.  A new attorney at a “mill firm” had taken a case with a client who paid them $750.00 for their case.  The client had taken out a loan from a credit union for $3,000.00 within 30 days of filing.  Because the attorney did not understand that this was going to be an issue, the client was asked by the credit union to reaffirm the debt and pay it after the bankruptcy was complete.  If the client refused, the credit union would file an adversary case against the debtor and the debt would be found to be non-dischargeable.  Had the attorney caught this issue prior to filing the case, the Debtor could have been advised to wait until 90 days had passed from the date of the loan.  By waiting just 3 months from the date of the loan, the entire debt would have been discharged.  This means that the $750.00 fee that the attorney had charged had really cost the client $3,750.00.  A good bankruptcy attorney with a deep insight into bankruptcy laws could have been hired for far less and the client could have received a better result.
The next day I observed another case of malpractice.  An attorney at court had filed a case in which their client’s retirement had been rolled over into an annuity by their employer.  The attorney did not take the time to research the annuity to ensure that it could be protected under the current bankruptcy exemptions.  Because of this mistake, the attorney was unsure whether the Chapter 7 Trustee would liquidate the account.  The attorney had been paid $800.00 for the case, but the client was at risk of losing an additional $25,000.00 due to the attorney’s incompetence.
Finally, while I was in the hearing room waiting for my case to be called I overheard a Trustee asking a Debtor about $8,000.00 that the Debtor had deposited into her adult daughter’s account.  The mother was using the daughter’s account to store the money so that creditors could not get to it.  The problem. the trustee is likely to argue that the deposit into the daughter’s account was a fraudulent transfer to an insider and will seek to disgorge the entire $8,000.00.  If the Trustee is successful, the client will have paid not only the $750.00 that the attorney charged her, but also the $8,000.00 that she transferred to her daughter.
The bottom line is that a qualified bankruptcy attorney may cost a little more on the front end of the case, but is likely to avoid pitfalls that will cost you far more in lost assets and headaches at the back end of the case.

There are a million places to get your credit report. Let’s make it free and easy, shall we?
You know you need to check your credit report regularly so you hit the Internet in search of a site.
You can pay for the report or get it for free. But figuring out which site to use can drive you nuts.
In fact, a Google search for “free credit report” returns over 630 million results.
Here’s where to get your credit report quickly and easily.
Getting A Free Credit Report
If you’re in line for a free credit report, you can go to each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and get your credit report at no charge.
That’s like driving 35 on the freeway. It will get you there, but not quickly or easily.
To order your free annual credit report just take one of these three simple steps:

• Log on to www.annualcreditreport.com
• Call 1-877-322-8228, or
• Complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

In order to get your free annual credit report you will need to provide:

• your name
• your address
• Social Security number
• date of birth
• all previous addresses within the past two years

The website I listed is the only official one maintained by the three major credit reporting agencies under the federal credit reporting laws.  Any other site claiming to offer you a free credit report should be viewed skeptically.
Paid Credit Reports
If you can’t get your credit report at no cost, you’re going to need to pony up and pay some money.  A consumer reporting company is allowed to charge you up to $10.50 for a copy of your report. This doesn’t count any additional charges such as credit scores, which can cost more.
To pay for a copy of your credit report, you can go to any of the following places:

• Experian: www.experian.com
• TransUnion: www.transunion.com
• Equifax: www.equifax.com

Which Credit Report Better, Free Or Paid?
There is no difference between a credit report from one of the above paid sites as opposed to one received from the free repository.
The free credit report site is maintained by the same companies that will sell you a report.
If you can get the free one, do it. And if you can’t, then you’ll need to pay.
 
How To Easily And Quickly Get Your Credit Report Without Being Ripped Off was originally published on Consumer Help Central. If you're seeing this message on another site, it has been stolen and is being used without permission. That's illegal, a violation of copyright, and just plain awful.