I can recall years ago attending a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy hearing. These hearings are like cattle calls where there are large numbers of debtors waiting to appear before a Chapter 7 Trustee who is responsible for administering your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case. Typically, 4-6 hearings are held each half hour.

An extremely common question in consultations for bankruptcy is whether all credit accounts will close after filing. Most attorneys will advise you that even if the account is at $0 prior to filing or excluded off of a case, it likely will still close. 

When you file bankruptcy all of your creditors will be informed of the date, time, and instructions for your 341 hearing. The 341 hearing, also known as the meeting of creditors, is your creditors chance to ask specific questions about the information in your case. Although most creditors do not show up for the 341 hearing, some may. 

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.