You do not have to be a U.S. citizen to file bankruptcy. You do have to be a resident of the state in which you file your bankruptcy case and have lived there for the last 180 days. Filing bankruptcy without being a U.S. citizen does raise one complication. Most debtors who file bankruptcy are […]
DO I HAVE TO LIST ALL OF MY CREDITORS IN BANKRUPTCY?
Debtors often ask me not to include a specific debt in their bankruptcy. In most cases the motivation behind these requests is that the debtors wish to keep a house or a car and they believe that if the debts that are secured by their property are listed in the schedules, they will lose the […]
DOMESTIC SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS GIVEN PRIORITY IN BANKRUPTCY
The Bankruptcy Code provides special protection for parties’ owed domestic support obligations, such as child support, alimony, and spousal maintenance. In its present form, the Bankruptcy Code provides that domestic support obligations cannot be discharged in a Chapter 7 case and receive priority status in Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan. This priority status guarantees that domestic […]
FILING A CLAIM IN CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCY ISN’T JUST FOR THE CREDITORS
In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, debtors prepare a plan to repay their creditors. Creditors have an opportunity to review the plan, and if they feel they are being treated unfairly, they can file an objection to the plan. Once all objections are resolved, and the plan is confirmed by the Court, the creditors are bound by […]
FILING BANKRUPTCY MAY IMPROVE YOUR CREDIT RATING
Many people do not file bankruptcy because they fear that it will ruin their credit score. The reality is that by the time most people start thinking about filing bankruptcy, they already have a poor credit rating, and for those people, filing bankruptcy may in fact improve their credit rating. There are several reasons why […]