Janice Dickinson, 58, also known as the world’s first supermodel, filed for bankruptcy protection after owing creditors close to $1 million.  Her creditors include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and unpaid bills from plastic surgery performed by multiple doctors.  Dickinson is known as one of the most successful models in the world when her modeling [...]

In the state of Washington, your Chapter 13 Plan Payment may be largely dictated by how you fare on the Means Test. In simplest form, the completion of the Means Test calculation determines how much you can afford to pay back to your unsecured creditors. This number is derived by taking a six month total of your gross income and then subtracting a series of both real and IRS approved deductions. One of the major IRS approved deductions is the “Car Ownership Allowance.”

In Lynchburg, VA, James Gordon Fields, 47, recently plead guilty to multiple charges of fraud including bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, false statements made pertaining to a loan, and false statements made under oath during bankruptcy proceedings.  Fields was a fugitive on the run for over a year after admitting he ran from authorities when [...]

Chapter 7 is a liquidation fresh start type of bankruptcy whereby a person who has very little in the way of assets and a lot of unsecured debt can file a Chapter 7 and get a fresh start.  Under Chapter 7, debtors typically keep all of their properties such as houses, cars, personal belongings provided+ Read MoreThe post What’s the dif

Filing bankruptcy differs from law firm to law firm, from city to city.  The only thing that remains constant is the filing fees with the court.  At the time of this writing, the filing fee for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is $306.  The filing for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is $281.  Chapter 7 bankruptcy fees can vary anywhere from $750 in a simple case up to $3000 in a complex case or a corporation case.  The level of experience of your bankruptcy attorney is what you want to look for, not necessarily the lowest price.  Going with the lowest price can often get you a lesser service, a lesser attorn

The Chapter 13 plan payment is based on a number of different factors and each case is different.  First, we have to look at the income and the expenses of the debtor.  Income is based on all sources of income, whether it is employment, unemployment, workers comp, disability, child support, maintenance, investment income, rental income, support from family members; any sort of income must be calculated in a Chapter 13 under Schedule I.  We then look at Schedule J which are the monthly expenses that the debtor incurs; everything from rent, mortgage, auto payment, insurance, food, clothing, u

There are two prongs that have to be satisfied for Chapter 7 for the most part.  Firstly, you must be either under the median which is the dollar amount per family size that the government has set; or if you are over that median, you must pass the means test which is a mathematical formula based on all of your income and expenses, showing that you don’t have the ability to repay your creditors over time.

  You’ve filed your chapter 13 bankruptcy paperwork and submitted your schedules and payment plan. The meeting of creditors is completed and you’ve answered the trustee’s questions. The next step in the process is your confirmation hearing. In some courts, the confirmation hearing will happen on the same day as the meeting of creditors. In [...]

  You’ve filed your chapter 13 bankruptcy paperwork and submitted your schedules and payment plan. The meeting of creditors is completed and you’ve answered the trustee’s questions. The next step in the process is your confirmation hearing. In some courts, the confirmation hearing will happen on the same day as the meeting of creditors.

 
When an individual files for bankruptcy protection they are required by law to disclose all of their assets and all of their liabilities.  What exactly does that mean?