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.

I commonly meet clients that have really high auto loan payments, who are wondering if we can help by reducing their monthly payments in a chapter 13 bankruptcy. The short answer is Yes, but there are criteria that need to be met.

Bankruptcy can discharge a lot of different types of debt. With debt like a traffic ticket, this is debt that is owed to either the city, county, or the state depending on where the citation was issued. In other words, this is debt owed to the government.

When you have filed and received a bankruptcy discharge in a prior chapter 7 or chapter 13 in Minnesota, timing matters if you want to receive a discharge in a new bankruptcy case.

Read on for the time restraints on filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 after a previous bankruptcy. Take note that the times are different depending on which chapter, chapter 7 or chapter 13, you previously filed.

From the ancient Mississippian people who grew crops near present-day Winona, to European immigrants farming in Jordan, and to present-day family farms, Minnesota has a rich farming history.

One of the most common questions that we hear around this time of year is whether potential clients will lose their tax refunds if they decide to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.. The short answer is that it really depends on each individual situation, but in a great many of the cases that we file, the tax refunds can be protected. 

Generally, the answer is “no,” with a few exceptions. First, I will explain what happens to your debts when you die. After that, I will cover the few exceptions to the rule for surviving spouses in Minnesota.

In Minnesota, contractors, laborers and material suppliers are entitled to file a mechanics’ lien against real estate they have “improved” – by constructing, remodeling or repairing structures on the property – and for which the property owner has not paid. Filing bankruptcy before or after a mechanics lien can cause different scenarios.

Whether there is a minimum debt requirement to file bankruptcy is a common question. The answer is no, there is no legally defined minimum amount of debt you need to file either a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy. 

One of the great features of Chapter 13 bankruptcy is that the monthly payment the debtor makes is based on the debtor’s budget. In theory, the Chapter 13 payment is always affordable for debtors. Unfortunately, because your circumstances may change, your Chapter 13 payments may become unaffordable. We can help.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases are repayment plans that can be an effective tool to use to resolve financial problems in a variety of scenarios. Chapter 13 gives people a way to restructure their finances while being able to retain their home, their car, and other assets that would otherwise have to be turned over to creditors.