There are better words in the English dictionary than bankruptcy. If you are not nervous about filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, you are weird. But to the team at Kain & Scott, suffering from overwhelming debt is not unusual or weird. It’s called life. The humility of being alive.  No one dreams of getting married and going through a horrible divorce, no one dreams of starting a business and have it turn into a nightmare, no one dreams of having cancer so you can’t work or pay your bills and yet these things happen all the time.

Last week I tried to answer some of the questions that are commonly asked by clients who are thinking about filing a bankruptcy case.  We talked about the impact of bankruptcy on credit scores, the removal of debts discharged in a bankruptcy case from a credit report and the amount of time needed for a client of Kain & Scott to file a chapter 13 bankruptcy case.  This week, I will do my best to answer other questions that commonly come up with potential clients.  And let’s start with a basic question.

With the holiday season approaching, many Minnesotans are planning on using credit cards to get through the annual spending splurge. With so many purchases this time of year—gifts, airplane tickets, gas, food, and trimmings—many families drastically increase their amount of credit card debt every holiday season. A recent study suggests that the average American household will spend $422 this year on gifts for each child in their household: that’s enough green to make anyone see red!

Is your debt snowballing out of control this winter?

If there’s one thing that Minnesotans know, it’s snow. With an average annual snowfall of between 36 and 70 inches, The North Star State has experience handling whatever Old Man Winter throws its way.

But if you have snowballing debt, you will need more than a shovel and mittens this Minnesota winter.

In the age of YouTube tutorials and do-it-yourself blogs, it’s now easier than ever to find “how to” information online. From building furniture, to fixing a leaky faucet, to how to prepare a perfect child’s birthday cake, “how to” videos and tutorials empower the average layperson to expand their knowledge base and become more self-sufficient.

Is one option, bankruptcy vs. foreclosure, a better alternative when compared to the other? While both may seem like bleak routes, one alternative is actually significantly better when compared to the other. 

For many people, one of the first experiences they have with bankruptcy is playing Monopoly. In the game, when a player doesn’t have enough assets to pay their debts either to the bank or to another player, they are bankrupt and lose the game. Complete with orange card declaring “Bankruptcy! Do not pass Go, do not collect $200,” the game makes it clear that once you reach bankruptcy, for you the game is over -- you lose.

One of the most frequent questions we encounter from prospective clients is why they should hire Kain & Scott as their Minnesota bankruptcy lawyers. Whether referred to us by another satisfied client or finding us on their own, clients want to know that the Minnesota bankruptcy law firm they select has their best interests in mind when eliminating their debt.

Before you can file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you must consult with a nonprofit credit counseling agency. There are two courses you must complete. One is pre-filing and one is post-filing. Most people attend these courses online but they can be completed over the phone as well. The purpose of the first course is to see whether there are any options outside of filing for bankruptcy and the purpose of the second course is to educate you on your budget moving forward.

There are many common words and phrases that are used in bankruptcy cases - terms that aren’t commonly used in our everyday life, but that have specific meaning in bankruptcy cases. Knowing what these words and phrases mean eliminate some of the mystery that a person considering bankruptcy might experience in making a decision as to whether a bankruptcy case is in his/her best interest. Let’s look at some of these words and phrases below:

Last week, I finished writing about the way that Minnesota state law treats home ownership in bankruptcy cases. If you recall, Minnesota is one of 15 states nation-wide that allow people who file bankruptcy to either use the property protections found in the Federal Bankruptcy Code or the property protections found in Minnesota Statutes to protect their interests in property - both real estate and personal property. In bankruptcy cases, when property is protected, the property is termed “exempt.” For many of my clients, the anxiety they feel regarding the decision of whether to file a bankruptcy case has to do with making sure that the property they own and want to retain is exempt.

I’ve been writing about the interaction between a bankruptcy debtor and the debtor’s relatives for the past three weeks. During that time, I’ve looked at the complications that can arise from having relatives involved in a debtor’s financial affairs - and how almost every debtor who has been my client very much wants to keep family members from getting entangled in the debtor’s bankruptcy case.

Last week, I wrote about the issue of home protection in bankruptcy. And it’s a fairly complicated issue. But the bottom line is that if you are a homeowner that lives in Minnesota, and you need to file a bankruptcy case to resolve your financial issues, the equity in your home is almost certain to be exempt - that is, your home can’t be taken from you by a bankruptcy trustee if you want to protect it.

If you’re serious about eliminating your debt and recharging your financial future, chances are you have heard of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Chapter 7 bankruptcy gives you a fresh start by erasing your debt fast and immediately stopping aggressive collections actions and calls from creditors that can cause stress and anxiety, negatively impacting your quality of life. Without your debt to hold you back or creditors to harass you night and day, you have the freedom to make the most of your fresh financial start.

Financial problems make people anxious. And when clients come to visit with me about their finances, it is normal that they are anxious and stressed about their money situation. The anxiety comes, in large part, from the feeling that there’s not enough money to pay the bills - and the consequences that go along with that. The anxiety can be intense in these situations: worries about whether a person can be jailed if there is a civil judgment taken for an unpaid debt is common (no, the person is not going to jail). If a person files a bankruptcy case, who will know about it (creditors certainly will, but friends and neighbors almost always don’t).

You’ve heard them on the radio and seen them on TV. They make promises about eliminating your debt in no time at all, at no cost to you. All you have to do is make the phone call and your debt can be put in the past. Well this sounds great, and your first conversation may go great, too. However, debt consolidation programs like to put all of the exciting benefits and the promise of a better tomorrow at the front, so you don’t see what lives behind the curtain.