If there’s a bright spot in the midst of this recession, it’s the thrill bankruptcy lawyers get in stripping mortgage liens from underwater property. Action taken at the depths of home values will benefit clients long into the future if the client can hang on to the home til things recover. Yet I hear […]

    Some mistakes the Chapter 13 trustee will call you on;  others go unremarked.   So let’s discuss some simplistic thinking that has your Chapter 13 client paying too much into the plan. I’ve reviewed any number of newbie plans that use the non exempt equity in the debtor’s possessions as the liquidation premium. […]

This seems to have been my season for issues driven by testamentary, or pseudo testamentary transfers. Estate planning is a big issue that requires independent consultation like Stone Arch Law Office, PLLC – Estate Planning Law Firm does. I’ve encountered the post petition trust beneficiary; the client with an unanticipated prepetition interest in a probate […]

    The Chapter 13 Trustee almost snarled from the counsel table at last week’s hearings. Counsel’s “fix”, she told the court, put the debtor instantly in default. Huh?  The amended plan was supposed to correct the previous defect in the filed plan.  What’s the problem?  Counsel certainly was befuddled. There were several such cases, […]

    My call to the inept bankruptcy practitioners to get better or get out spawned some surprising push back. I spoke bluntly about what I saw as harm to the public from less than competent or committed bankruptcy attorneys. Most reaction was supportive:  A trustee wanted to use the piece for a presentation he […]

After I unloaded on the incompetence I saw in the courtroom last week, it’s only fair to ask:  what are you struggling with?  Is there something I can do to help? I’m here to share what I know, with an emphasis on fitting together the pieces of what you can learn from books or traditional […]

I spent a painful day in court watching two contested Chapter 13 confirmation calendars.  It wasn’t just my fanny that hurt by the end of the day, it was my head.  Actually, I was sick to my stomach. The number of Chapter 13 cases dismissed because the lawyer had apparently done nothing, done it late, […]