Filing Bankruptcy Facts!
On October 17, 2005 the world of bankruptcy law changed for the worse. Or did it? Is it really that much harder to file bankruptcy under the new bankruptcy law?
In the run up to the effective date of the new law, bankruptcy filings increased to record numbers in virtually every bankruptcy court district in the United States. Scary terms like "means test" and "bankruptcy credit counseling" seemed to drive people out of the wood work to beat the deadline.
After the law changed, many lawyers who used to file bankruptcy under the old law simply gave up filing bankruptcies because of Click here to read the rest of this article ... Copyright 2005 Dean Shainin Before you file bankruptcy, it is a good idea to look into other alternatives if at all possible. New bankruptcy laws make it more difficult to file than it used to be. Why Has Filing For Bankruptcy Doubled? From the period of 1994 to 2004, filing for bankruptcy has doubled. Bankruptcy filing has spun out of control with consumers being targeted with easy credit. This has become a major cause for bankruptcy cases. New Bankruptcy Laws? There is now a new law for bankruptcy that was passed called the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act". People struggling to pay their credit debts are now going to have to Click here to read the rest of this article ... |
Syndicating Filing Bankruptcy Resources...
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The rush to file bankruptcy ahead of the new bankruptcy law over. Now what? Did you miss the boat if you didn't file bankruptcy before the new law went into effect?
Absolutely not. Although the new bankruptcy law has made it much more difficult to file bankruptcy, most attorneys are finding out that the new bankruptcy law is manageable and filings are on the rise.
One of the most confusing parts of the new bankruptcy law is the bankruptcy means test.
In an effort to stop bankruptcy abuse, Congress decided to implement a step to the bankruptcy process called the "bankruptcy means test".The Click here to read the rest of this article ... The laws regarding bankruptcy have changed recently, but there are still options available to you if your debt has grown out of control and you have found yourself unable to repay them. Bankruptcy laws give debtors a way to divide their assets among creditors and completely eliminate some debts after the assets have been distributed. Due to the recent changes, you may have to undergo credit counseling prior to filing bankruptcy, but as a debtor you are entitled to file bankruptcy as a way to reorganize or eliminate your debts. People wanting to completely eliminate all outstanding debts generally use Chapter 7 bankruptcies. Business can also file Chapter 7 if they Click here to read the rest of this article ... Before you file for bankruptcy, it is important to realize that all bankruptcy proceedings will be listed in public bankruptcy records. Therefore, if you have filed for bankruptcy, it is possible for anybody - including future employers or creditors - to easily look up your bankruptcy record while trying to discover your financial history. This can be very annoying in the future, and might make it harder for you to get credit that you need. Another result of this is that there is really no point in neglecting to mention that you have had to file for bankruptcy in the past. Click here to read the rest of this article ... |
Filing Bankruptcy Hot Tips: Two Methods of Filing Bankruptcy
Because Knowledge IS Power...
| Filing Bankruptcy Methods There are two ways a person can become a bankrupt. The first and more common way is to have the person file a petition to voluntarily go bankrupt. The second, and rarely used way, is for creditors to ask the Court to make an Order that a person is bankrupt. In both these cases a Bankruptcy Trustee is required to administer the bankruptcy. The two main types of bankruptcies available to individuals deal with different debt situations in different ways. The typical Chapter 7 debtor has few assets and considerable debts primarily associated with credit cards, store purchases, hospital bills and other dischargeable debts. Creditors are paid, if at all, from anything that the debtor currently owns that cannot be claimed as exempt. Certain debts are not dischargeable in a Chapter 7 proceeding but are dischargeable in a Chapter 13. Dischargeable means that by filing for bankruptcy you will not have to pay the debt if the court grants the discharge. Typical Bankruptcy Filings The typical Chapter 13 debtor files because the debtor is in arrears with rent, mortgage payments, car loan or other secured debt, because the debtor has substantial debts which cannot be discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, or because the debtor has some assets which he or she wants to keep but cannot be claimed as exempt. Another reason to file a Chapter 13 is to protect someone else who may be liable for your debts, such as a co-signer or spouse. In Chapter 13, creditors are paid out of the debtor's future earnings and a plan must be proposed to pay these creditors. In order to qualify for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy the debtor must be an individual with regular income. This regular income may consist of wages, commissions, rents, public benefits, social security, unemployment compensation, alimony, child support, pensions or other types of income which can be estimated. Many state courts, including those in Illinois, have ruled that IRA accounts are safe from creditors in a bankruptcy. But bankruptcy professor Charles Tabb at the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign notes that assets in a Roth IRA may not be protected. A Roth IRA does not have all the characteristics of the traditional IRA, since there are no restrictions on withdrawal of contributions. So that's still an open issue. Deciding which type of bankruptcy to file, and what is protected are but a few of the issues that arise during a bankruptcy. Guidelines for Filing Bankruptcy Your bankruptcy petition must include a detailed list of your current sources of income and regular expenses as they will be after you have filed your petition. This is very important. If the judge assigned to your case decides that your budget reflects that you can repay your creditors without difficulty, the judge may dismiss your case. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the amount that you will have to pay your creditors monthly is based upon the budget you supply to the court. Regular monthly income from all sources must be disclosed in your budget, including salary, commissions, business income, investment income, tax refunds, rent, public benefits, unemployment compensation and the like. Any change in your income or expenses during the bankruptcy proceeding should be disclosed to the court. Considered to be a hot topic by some and a grim reality by others, bankruptcy is a serious issue that many people around the world find themselves having to deal with. A large number of people live in fear of bankruptcy, and even more live with a number of misunderstandings and half-truths that prevent them from knowing exactly what bankruptcy is and how it works. Before making decisions about whether or not to file for a personal or business bankruptcy, it's important to take some time and research both what bankruptcy is and what it isn't... and to see what alternatives to bankruptcy might exist. The information provided here Click here to read the rest of this article ... If you want to file bankruptcy on your own, you can. You just need to make sure that you get the right bankruptcy form. There are a lot of different places where you can get a bankruptcy form - including online. One thing you should keep in mind, however, is that you should not have to pay for your bankruptcy form. Therefore, if you do look for bankruptcy forms online, make sure that the site you go to is not charging you for them - after all, why pay for something that is readily available free. One thing that you may Click here to read the rest of this article ... |
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