Under Minn. Stat. § 550.37, subd. 6, you are allowed to exempt property if your interest in that property consists of “tools, implements, machines, instruments, office furniture, stock in trade, and library reasonably necessary in the trade, business, or profession of the debtor…”.

If you file bankruptcy and your spouse does not file with you, your spouse will remain liable on any joint debt. In a chapter 13 bankruptcy filing, priority debts like tax debt must be paid in the plan or through the bankruptcy. This is great news if you want a payment plan for your tax debt. However, the co-debtor on the tax debt is not protected by the automatic stay in a chapter 13 bankruptcy from the taxing authority.

It’s tough to pick up the phone and call our office to set up an appointment to speak with one of the attorneys at Kain & Scott about your financial troubles. Everyone at our office knows this, and we honor your courage in making that call. When you’ve made the phone call and set up the appointment – whether it’s in-person, over the phone, or using a video platform – we want to shift our focus to having that first meeting be productive for both you and us.

Here are some ways that our clients help us provide the best service we can.

In Minnesota, there's a specific limit on how much money you can keep in your bank account during Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This limit is known as the cash exemption. If you have more than the exemption, you may need to surrender the excess to the bankruptcy trustee.

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As a refresher, the 341 meeting is a 5-10 minute meeting with the bankruptcy trustee. During the meeting the trustee will ask you questions to verify the information in your case. Typically these meetings take place a month after your case has been filed.

What happens after the 341 meeting will depend on what type of case you have and whether you file a chapter 13 bankruptcy, a chapter 7, or have a no asset case or an asset case.

The short answer to this question is simple: no, you cannot choose which debts are in your bankruptcy and you cannot leave any out. When you file bankruptcy, you must list all of your debts, including any secured debts, domestic support obligations, tax debts, and general unsecured debts. You are asked in both your filing paperwork, and while under oath at your 341 meeting, if you included all of your debts and you need the answer to be a simple: “yes.”

The concept of discharge can prove to be a bit confusing to individuals not directly involved in the field of bankruptcy. Essentially, discharge means the debt is forgiven or canceled, and the creditor has either agreed to the debt being wiped out or the creditor is prohibited from pursuing future payment. Bankruptcy can only cancel debts that exist at the time the petition is filed.

As a refresher, the 341 meeting or meeting of creditors, is a 5-to-10-minute hearing, where the bankruptcy trustee for your case asks you questions. Typically, these questions are yes or no response and are used to verify the information in your case.

When you file bankruptcy, there are certain assets the bankruptcy laws let you protect. The laws are designed so that you aren’t left destitute for filing bankruptcy. One of the assets we can protect are retirement accounts. The laws want to make sure you don’t have to lose money that you will need to rely on years down the road.

Filing bankruptcy is a court action, so it is public, but most people do not keep tabs on the current bankruptcy filings. However, if you have any shared or joint debt with your ex, the answer is unequivocally yes, they will be notified of the bankruptcy filing because they are a co-debtor.

When you do your taxes this year, your 2020 tax returns, you may encounter the Recovery Rebate Credit. The Recovery Rebate Credit is a protected asset in every bankruptcy case, chapter 7 or chapter 13. If you are owed this credit, this is not money that the trustee could ever get their hands on.

Not far down the road from Edina, there is a Kain & Scott fully staffed bankruptcy law office 40 hours per week just inside Eden Prairie, Minnesota. In fact, Kain & Scott has the most full time staffed offices in Minnesota than any other Minnesota bankruptcy law firm, all focused on helping you through your bankruptcy in Edina, MN.

When you are on the verge of filing bankruptcy it may seem tempting to pay down some secured debts. People fall into the trap of taking exempted funds out of retirement accounts and using those funds to pay down their secured loans. Unfortunately, this type of bankruptcy planning can backfire.

One of the benefits of being an alumnus of Saint John’s University is having access to a daily reflection written by one of the monks at Saint John’s Abbey. Every morning at 1:00 a short reflection by Fr. Don Talafous drops into my email timeline.

The Office is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. In one of the more memorable episodes, Michael Scott tries to “declare bankruptcy” simply by shouting it for everyone in the office to hear. Bankruptcy law dates back to 1542 in England, but even back then, I don’t think shouting that you declare bankruptcy would be enough to put your creditors on notice.

When individuals are faced with crushing debt, and unable to meet their monthly obligations, one of the logical questions they struggle with is whether they should use their retirement funds to pay the debt. There are few things about my job that break my heart more than hearing clients that are at, or close to, retirement age have used their retirement funds to pay their debt.