Yes, you can typically keep your tax refund in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. However, there are specific rules and exceptions. To ensure you understand your rights and options, it's crucial to consult with a Minnesota bankruptcy attorney who specializes in Chapter 13 cases. They can provide personalized guidance based on your unique circumstances.

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In most cases, when you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Minnesota, your tax refund becomes part of your bankruptcy estate, meaning the bankruptcy trustee may claim it to pay off creditors. However, you may be able to protect part or all of your tax refund by using Minnesota's state or federal bankruptcy exemptions.

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In most cases, personal injury settlements received before filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy are exempt from being included in the bankruptcy estate. This means you can typically keep the money. However, if the settlement was received after filing, it may be subject to creditor claims. It's crucial to consult with a bankruptcy attorney in Minnesota to understand how your specific situation may be affected.

Wage garnishment is a legal process that allows creditors to collect on debts directly from your pay before the funds are paid to you. In Minnesota, this process is governed by state laws, ensuring that creditors cannot take more than what is legally permitted from your earnings. Wage garnishment can occur for various reasons, including unpaid debts like child support, taxes, or court judgments.

A Chapter 13 trustee in Minnesota identifies and investigates preferential payments made by the debtor within a specific period before filing bankruptcy. If a preference is found, the trustee may seek to recover the payment for the benefit of creditors. This process aims to ensure fairness and equitable distribution of assets among all creditors.

Filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Minnesota typically takes around 3-4 months. This timeframe can vary depending on factors like the complexity of your case and how quickly you provide the necessary documentation.

A common question that many people ask when filing bankruptcy is how the bankruptcy will affect any co-signers that they may have at the time of filing.  Depending on the circumstances, the impact will differ.  If, for example, two spouses are both filing bankruptcy together and they are co-signed on a number of shared debts, then the fact that they are co-signers with one another will not have a significant impact on the bankruptcy.  Alternatively, if you are filing bankruptcy and have a co-signer who is not also filing, the impact on the co-signer will be different than it would for two spouses filing jointly.   

When you file bankruptcy, you may be worried about big purchases after the filing. Will it hinder your case? Will the asset be involved in the case? Do you need court permission to spend money? This blog will explore answers to these questions and more. 

There’s a new buzz word going around the personal finances section of social media: Lifestyle Creep.

When you file bankruptcy your income will help in determining which chapter you qualify for. You and your attorney will look at both the means test and disposable income. 

You can file bankruptcy as long as you are at least 18 years old. Whether you should file and what filing will look like, at whatever age you are, should be discussed with an attorney. 

Continuing on our journey of debt relief history, we’ll move on next to two of the most famous ancient civilizations: Greece and Rome. (Fun fact: The author of this blog actually has a degree in ancient history and archaeology). 

If you are either in a filed bankruptcy or are thinking of filing, you may be wondering what impact bankruptcy will have on your bank accounts. The answer, it depends. It depends on several factors, where you bank at, if you owe that bank funds, and whether the account is negative.  

When filing bankruptcy, one of the first things that many people will ask is whether they will need to make an appearance in court related to the filing. 

When filing bankruptcy, something that many people are curious about are the ways in which the bankruptcy process will protect them from creditors.  Related to this, many also wonder when these protections take effect, and how they will continue to function after the bankruptcy has formally concluded.  These are both excellent questions, and they both address one of the fundamental, foundational purposes of bankruptcy, which is: to provide you, your family and your loved ones with peace of mind concerning debt, creditors, and their efforts to pursue those debts.  

In recent years, it has become increasingly common for parents, grandparents or others who may be going through the process of estate planning to add the names of loved ones to the deed of a home or other parcel of real estate which they intend to leave to them one day.  This may be done for a variety of reasons, but most typically takes place for the purpose of simplifying the transfer of the property after the passing of the person that it originally belonged to.  However, adding the name of a loved one to a deed also inherently changes the ownership status of the property; rather than the property passing to the heir upon the death of the person who originally owned it, it now instead belongs to both the grantor and heir jointly at the time that the new name is added to the deed.