In a legal “Trust,” money, or other property, that is owned by a “Beneficiary,” is controlled by a “Trustee” (not to be confused with a bankruptcy trustee), whose responsibility it is to distribute the property to the Beneficiary in accordance with the terms of a written “Trust Agreement.” The person who creates the legal trust, via the Trust Agreement, is called the “Settlor,” and there can be multiple Settlors, Trustees, and Beneficiaries.

A chapter 7 bankruptcy is a liquidation bankruptcy, consequently non-exempt assets in a chapter 7 bankruptcy are liquidate or debtor may be able to purchase their non-exempt assets back from the bankruptcy estate. In a chapter 7 bankruptcy, the debtor has a limited amount of time to purchase back their non-exempt assets or relinquish the assets to the bankruptcy estate. If a debtor is unable to purchase back their assets from the estate or is unwilling to give up their non-exempts the debtor may consider filing a chapter 13. (Your attorney will let you know which assets in your case are non-exempt).

Occasionally debtors will find themselves in a situation where they are continuously being hounded by creditors. The debts have been sold and resold and many times debtors are not even sure who they owe funds to anymore. Unfortunately, this can make those debtors vulnerable to scams. If a debtor receives a call from an aggressive creditor demanding payment and the creditor is offering a substantial discount the debtor may be tempted to take the deal-even though the debtor does not know the exact source of the debt.

     If you live in Minnesota, and you are struggling with a debt problem, you can solve your debt problem for good in 2 steps:

If you are considering filing bankruptcy, you likely are wondering what you will have to do in order to file. At Life Back Law we make the process easy for those considering filing bankruptcy.

 LifeBack Law Firm is Minnesota’s bankruptcy law firm, since 1972. We have been protecting Minnesotans from their creditors since 1972 and we can protect you too. Our entire focus, from the time we come to work until the time we go home, is protecting Minnesotans just like you from their creditors. How successful are we at doing our job? Ask the people who left us over 1,400 Google reviews and they will tell you how they were treated and what getting their lives back meant to them. Each month, hundreds of Minnesotans just like you reach out to LifeBack Law Firm for help with a debt problem. We protect each and every one of these people who retain LifeBack Law from their creditors and we can protect you too.

     How can a person tell for sure if they should file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? A tall tale sign is if you are thinking about Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, a lot. In fact, if you are reading this blog now you might be need to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Why do I say this? Well, many people try to avoid the “b” word, so if you start looking for the “b” word that means you are seriously looking at filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. What is a great resource to research Minnesota bankruptcy? Go to Minnesota’s largest bankruptcy law firm’s website at www.lifebacklaw.com. You will be impressed with three levels of information about Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.

Filing for bankruptcy is very often the best option for someone who is in a financial position where they are unable to afford to pay their ongoing bills and expenses in addition to their debts. When this happens, a person should try their best to continue paying their necessary ongoing expenses and bills, such as their mortgage payment, car payment, utility bills, and groceries. These needed expenses are more important than paying on old debts, especially if a person is planning on filing for bankruptcy and getting rid of those old debts anyways.

     Recently, I have been reading about and materials belonging to some of the ancient Greek philosophers. Socrates left behind no works or books. What we gleam from Socrates and who he was comes from students of Socrates like Plato and others. One of the comments Socrates is known to have said is, “When the argument is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.” I absolutely love this statement made by Socrates because it is 100% truth. How often have you been in a debate with someone only to have the other person resort to name calling or worse? Socrates was himself punched, kicked, had his hair pulled, and ultimately killed for searching for the truth. And yet today, in 2021, slander is alive in well from those who try and conceal bad faith arguments or bad acts.

     Would you consider hiring a bankruptcy lawyer who was fired from their job filing bankruptcies? I would not. I would prefer my bankruptcy law not have been terminated from their former firm for any reason. If you were terminated from your job, I would naturally wonder why were you terminated from your previous job? I mean, do you struggle following boundaries, easy boundaries set by your former employer? How do I know you will follow simple boundaries with me as a client?

There are a number of parties when you decide to file for bankruptcy.  There’s you, the debtor.  Your attorney, if you choose to hire one, who represents you.  There are your creditors, companies or individuals you owe money to.  And, there’s a trustee.  A trustee is an individual who reviews and investigates your bankruptcy petition and schedules.  They are supervised by the courts and the United States Trustee Program, which is a part of the Department of Justice.

When a person files for bankruptcy, their property is considered exempt, protected from creditors under the law, or non-exempt, not protected from creditors. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, the debtor is required to give any non-exempt property they have to the trustee to be included in the bankruptcy estate and used to pay creditors or enter into an agreement with the trustee, wherein they agree to pay the trustee to keep the non-exempt property.

Chapter 7, or “liquidation” bankruptcy is the most straightforward path to bankruptcy relief for most of the people I talk to who are seeking bankruptcy relief (called “debtors”).

People file bankruptcy when they can no longer continue keeping up with paying their debts.  When faced with the decision of staying current on your rent or making payments upon your debts, it is always advisable to choose to make your rent payment rather than paying on the debts. Nobody wants to be evicted and most of your debts will be likely be wiped out by your bankruptcy discharge anyways (except for most types of tax debt, domestic support obligations, and student loan debt, etc.)