Articles from Shenwick & Associates

Many of our debtor clients ask the question: if I owe the IRS taxes and I'm collecting Social Security benefits or going to collect Social Security benefits in the future, can the IRS levy my Social Security payments?

Here at Shenwick & Associates, many of our bankruptcy clients (especially younger ones) have outstanding student loans. Although the Bankruptcy Code doesn't contain an express prohibition against discharging student loans in bankruptcy, the bar to doing so is very high. Most (but not all, as we'll discuss below) appellate courts, follow the standard laid out in Brunner v. New York State Higher Education Services Corp.

By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD

On a typical day in her last job, Janet Roth left home at 4 a.m. each day and drove 40
miles to a tax preparation office in Glendale, Ariz. When she finally got back home,
she had less than an hour before starting her 6 p.m. shift decorating cakes at
Walmart. She worked until midnight, giving her just a few hours to sleep before
starting all over again.

By Associated Press
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. — First came the health problems. Then, unable to work, Ada Noda watched the bills pile up. And then, suffocating in debt, the 80-year-old did something she never thought she'd be forced to do.
She declared bankruptcy.

While the bankruptcy filing rate for those under 55 has fallen, it has soared for older Americans, according to a new analysis from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, which examined a sampling of noncommercial bankruptcies filed between 1991 and 2007.