Bankruptcy is not just about discharging debts and saving your salary from wage garnishment , it is about protecting your future.  One of the ways that bankruptcy protects your future is by protecting qualified retirement account from creditor seizure. Below are a few ways that you can protect your retirement as you consider filing bankruptcy: [...]

The American Bankruptcy Institute's ABI Journal recently released a study that says that 42 percent of all debtors filing for bankruptcy were between the ages of 45 and 64 in 2007 and that older Americans file for bankruptcy at a faster rate than young adults.  The increased rate of bankruptcy filings among older Americans is [...]

Filing Out Your Statement of Financial Affairs When a debtor files bankruptcy, they must fill out what is called the Statement of Financial Affairs.  On the Statement of Financial Affairs the debtor must disclose all the income they have earned from employment or the operation of a business.  They must also disclose to the bankruptcy [...]

One of the most common reaffirmation agreements during bankruptcy is between a car lender and a debtor.  A reaffirmation agreement is a contract between the creditor and the debtor stating that despite the bankruptcy filing the debtor is still responsible for paying the debt and agrees to continue paying as if there was no bankruptcy [...]

Filing bankruptcy on debts owed to family and friends is a very emotionally charged issued.  It hurts to file bankruptcy and not repay your loved ones especially if they loaned you money they could not afford to just give away. This is why we hear so many stories about debtors failing to include in their [...]

Many debtors wait until the absolute last minute to file bankruptcy. Below are three reasons why debtors should never wait until the last minute to file bankruptcy: Waiting until the last minute to file bankruptcy leaves a debtor vulnerable to losing their home in foreclosure if they're a homeowner.  As we have mentioned in previous [...]

Generally speaking when a debtor files for bankruptcy, the process goes smoothly.  However, there are a few things that a debtor can do that could end in the dismissal of their bankruptcy by the bankruptcy trustee: A debtor's bankruptcy case may be dismissed if the debtor fails to provide the bankruptcy trustee with tax returns [...]

When it comes to interacting with your bankruptcy trustee you must remember that they are responsible for making sure that the creditors are paid as much as possible within the letter of the bankruptcy law. That said there a few things you should never say to a bankruptcy trustee: A debtor should never tell their [...]

When filing bankruptcy, debtors must remember that the bankruptcy trustee is there to make sure that creditors get paid as fairly as possible. This means that the bankruptcy trustee will examine your assets and their value so that he/she can repay your creditors.  Failure to fully disclose your assets in a bankruptcy can have legal [...]

Many debtors considering bankruptcy are facing lawsuits. Sometimes it's a lawsuit filed by a creditor or maybe even a lawsuit filed because of a non-debt related civil matter. But most debtors have the same question, should they file bankruptcy before or after the lawsuit? In most situations, there is no valid reason to wait until [...]