Bankruptcy is not something where you pick and choose what goes away and what does not. It takes a snapshot of all your assets and all your liabilities at a particular point in time (ie the date you file bankruptcy), and removes your personal liability for nearly all of them. The question is not what do I get to keep, but what survives a bankruptcy filing? That is: loans attached to vehicles and property (secured debt), debt from a divorce, child/spousal support, criminal court ordered fines, student loans, and most taxes.

In a previous post, I wrote about some simple rules for determining ownership of property.  The concept of property is important in both chapter 7 and chapter 13 bankruptcy cases – it affects the administration of chapter 7 cases and the amount paid in monthly chapter 13 plan payments, since the debtor’s property composes what’s called the bankruptcy estate.  And in most cases, property ownership is pretty easy to determine.  But there are some cases in which who owns property – and how much the property is worth – can get complicated.  Here are a few examples:

I’ve written several posts about property ownership and what owning property means in bankruptcy law. Determining whether an asset is property of a bankruptcy estate and thus subject to administration by a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee is critical to a debtor’s attorney’s job. The bankruptcy court plays a crucial role in determining whether an asset is property of the bankruptcy estate. As I wrote earlier, one of the tricky issues is that property of the bankruptcy estate can include property that a debtor does not yet control or possess.

The federal bankruptcy system is grounded on the grant of power contained in the United States Constitution.  This gave Congress the power to create “uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies.”

Don’t settle for less than the best bankruptcy law firm in Minnesota. I am sad when I see clients calling us frustrated because they cannot get a hold of the bankruptcy lawyer they hired. The conversations always go something like this: Client says, “can you help me? I have a problem and I have called my bankruptcy lawyer and she/he will not return my call.” I feel terrible for these people. And the call always puts Kain & Scott in an awkward position. I mean yes, we want to help, always! But, your lawyer is still your lawyer and the person who understands the case the best. So we often say, “look, we are so sorry you are going through this…but we think you should connect with your lawyer and see if you can’t smoke the peace pipe.”

A fundamental requirement in bankruptcy law is the determination of the ownership of property.  This applies to both real estate and personal property.  In chapter 7 cases, the ability to exempt property from administration by a bankruptcy trustee can make the difference between retaining or surrendering property.  In chapter 13 cases, the ability to exempt property can have a direct relationship to the amount of the monthly chapter 13 payment.  But who owns property can become surprisingly complicated.  Here are a few guidelines regarding property ownership.

One of the most common questions we field this time of year is whether tax debt is dischargeable. So many people are under the impression that tax debt can never be discharged in a bankruptcy, but that is not always the case! As with many things in bankruptcy, and life, the answer is not a simple yes or no, but it is possible to discharge taxes. Read more to find out if your tax debt might be discharged in a bankruptcy.

There is no shortage of companies and law firms that market to Minnesotans who are suffering with debt. I cringe when I see commercials of companies pedaling solutions to Minnesotans suffering debt through some sort of debt consolidation plan that makes solving the debt problem too good to be true. And often, it is too good to be true. You have no idea how many good Minnesotans get sucked into these plans, many of which front end their fees to make sure they get paid regardless of your success in the supposed plan.

Do you find this headline to be peculiar? I don’t. In fact, we believe this 100% at Kain & Scott. This is not some marketing gimmick at all. We honor the courage it takes Minnesotans to reach out for help. How do we honor the courage it takes to reach out to Kain & Scott? In everything we do from the moment you reach out to Kain & Scott until we are finished putting you through our FREE 90 Day Credit Repair Program and beyond. You see, we are never done with clients at Kain & Scott. Our guests sometimes need things from us years after we represented them in a case. No problem is what you will always hear from us.

Doesn’t it sound strange to read this? I think it does. Wouldn’t it make sense if you wanted to file a bankruptcy in Minnesota to hire a Minnesota law firm? I think it makes perfect sense. I feel bad for Minnesotans who are solicited by out of state companies or “law firms” to file bankruptcy in Minnesota. You say wait, how does that work? Well, it starts with being very careful when you first communicate with someone about bankruptcy. It turns out, there are companies who solicit you to file bankruptcy in Minnesota by “signing you up” and then referring you back to a Minnesota bankruptcy attorney?

The world is not a perfect place. I am glad it isn’t. Otherwise, life would be very boring indeed! In a perfect world, your credit reports would magically be perfect after filing bankruptcy and receiving a discharge. That does not always occur.

There are not too many global events that can affect us all like the Coronavirus can. You may not be personally afraid of the virus but if you are 75 years old and in a retirement home you may be scared to death. We have a collective responsibility to care for one another despite the cost in terms of money.  The Coronavirus has been no fun for anyone. We have literally thousands of scientists all over the world in search for a vaccine. I believe we will 100% have a vaccine for the Coronavirus, the question is when?

What is life like after bankruptcy in Minnesota? Rarely does this topic get discussed in a blog format. There are all kinds of blogs discussing what to do before bankruptcy, which firm to use, and what bankruptcy is and how it works but very little is written about what really happens to you after bankruptcy is over.

If you think I am kidding I am not. One of the best gifts you can give yourself is the gift of mental and physical health. There is no better way to protect your mental and physical health than to shed unwanted debt and repair your credit as fast as you can.

There are things you should never do on the day you file bankruptcy. The date you file bankruptcy is a snapshot of your life that is disclosed to your creditors along with the bankruptcy trustee. From that date, we glean what are your assets and what are your debts. We also see from that date backwards what kind of payments you made to creditors and what kind of transactions you made.

When I was in law school, they always told us the lawyer who tries to represent herself has a fool for a client. Same holds true for non-lawyers trying to represent themselves—especially in a mine laden area of law like bankruptcy. Let me ask you a question--- do you think a heart surgeon would do heart surgery on themselves? Of course not. Do you think a non-heart surgeon would do heart surgery on themselves? Of course not.