You don’t have to reflect on life very long to realize your best plans don’t always work out the way you intended. Who among us wants to be let go from a high paying job? Who among us would love for our business to be an epic fail right from the start? Who among us wants to get married hoping your spouse will turn out to be an epic turd?

A client may be judicially estopped from asserting a cause of action not disclosed on the bankruptcy schedules or otherwise mentioned in the disclosure statements. 

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a three to five year repayment plan, whereby a debtor pays as much as he or she can afford each month and receives a bankruptcy discharge of their remaining debts after successfully completing their plan payments.

Filing either a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy case is a great option for many Minnesotans who are struggling to pay their debts.

 Bankruptcy audits can happen randomly or for a specific reason regarding your case. This blog will explore what an audit is and possible reasons there may be an audit. 

Filing a personal bankruptcy case is a great way for Minnesotans to manage, and eliminate, large amounts of debt.  When a person successfully completes a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy case, they receive a discharge from the bankruptcy court, legally forgiving all of their debts, with certain limited exceptions (ie most types of tax debt, child support, student loans, and etc.) 

A Chapter 7 and a Chapter 13 bankruptcy are great ways for individuals to manage debt and pay down debt that has become untenable and overwhelming. In bankruptcy, most types of debts are dischargeable – this means that once a debtor successfully completes their bankruptcy case, the bankruptcy court will discharge, or legally wipe out the debt forever.

Bankruptcy is a powerful tool that enables thousands of Minnesotans to deal with, and eliminate, overwhelming debt, every year. In exchange for the debtor (what you call a person who files for bankruptcy) receiving this tremendous benefit, the bankruptcy court has an obligation to make sure all creditors are treated fairly.

Individuals may file for bankruptcy for themselves or jointly with a spouse. Bankruptcy allows for the discharge of debt. “Discharge” means that the debt becomes legally forgiven and wiped out forever, without the individual paying it. It makes sense for spouses to file together when they each have a lot of debt. For instance, both spouses may have a lot of credit cards in their names individually, or joint credit cards.

The number of dependents a debtor has is significant, as it determines whether the debtor passes the means test and qualifies for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The means test looks at a debtor’s household income from the previous six months prior to the debtor’s bankruptcy filing, and compares it to the median household income of the state the debtor resides in. If the debtor’s household income is above the household median income, then the debtor does not qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The number of dependents a debtor has will affect their household size and thus influence whether the debtor passes the means test. Moreover, a debtor filing for bankruptcy must complete Schedule J of their bankruptcy petition and schedules. Schedule J lists all of the debtor’s household expenses. A debtor must provide their number of dependents in Schedule J of the petition and schedules. The number of dependents a debtor has will determine the debtor’s household size, which can impact the value of allowed expenses the debtor’s family may be allowed to have when filing for bankruptcy. 

If you either had real estate transferred to you or you transferred real estate to your ex-spouse in a divorce, there are typical steps you should take to record ownership before filing bankruptcy. When you file bankruptcy you have to disclose all of your assets and any transfers done in the last two years, including transfers made within the divorce. If you do not have your ownership interest in real estate properly recorded, it could cause issues within your bankruptcy case. This blog will go through options you can take to properly record your ownership interest. 

In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, a debtor pays as much as he or she can afford each month, in a three to five year repayment plan. Typically, the debtor only pays a fraction of all of their total debt, and upon successful completion of the Chapter 13 bankruptcy, will receive a bankruptcy discharge that wipes out the majority of their remaining debt (with exceptions, such as child support debt or student loan debt).

In a chapter 13 bankruptcy case, the debtor (the legal term for a person who files for bankruptcy) pays all of their disposable income, each month, towards their debts in a three to five year repayment plan.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a great tool to resolve debt issues. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, an individual contributes all of their disposable income in a three to five year repayment plan. Upon successfully completing the Chapter 13 plan, the debtor will receive a bankruptcy discharge, which forgives most of their remaining debts. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, a debtor only has to make payments to the bankruptcy trustee, and will not have to give up any property. However, in order for the bankruptcy court to confirm a debtor’s repayment plan, the plan must provide that the debtor’s creditors receive at least as much as they would have received if the debtor had filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and had to turn over the property to the trustee to pay creditors. This is known as the “best interests to creditors test.”

A person who files a chapter 13 bankruptcy case is required to pay as much as they can afford towards their debts in a three-to-five year repayment plan. After successfully completing their plan, the person who filed for bankruptcy (aka the “debtor”) receives a discharge wiping out their remaining debts, with certain exceptions (e.g. student loans and child support).  There are a number of factors that determine exactly how much the debtor will have to pay, each month, in order for the bankruptcy court to “confirm,” or officially approve, their repayment plan and allow the debtor to receive a discharge. 

Filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy is a great option for many Minnesotans who are struggling to manage their debts.  People who earn less than the median income, based on their household size, are permitted to file a chapter 7 bankruptcy case. The beauty of a chapter 7 case is that the debtor (what you call a person who files for bankruptcy) is not required to make payments to their creditors like they do in a chapter 13 repayment plan. The catch is that in some case, the debtor may have to turn over certain property for the trustee to liquidate (sell to convert to cash) in order to pay their creditors.