The number of new cases through my doors is down, just like it is everywhere. But I’m staying busy. Busier some days than I would like to be. I thought it might be fun to look at the change in the composition of my cases over the past two years. More complicated cases There […]
When Just-In-Time Is Just Right
By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice
Getting things done and off your desk is usually a good modus operandi for an attorney. But sometimes, waiting until the last minute is better. The Required Bankruptcy Courses Since 2005 when the Bankruptcy Code was most recently amended with changes known as the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (“BAPCPA“), debtors filing bankruptcy are required […]
Marital Adjustment: Everything But The Kitchen Sink
By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice, Means test
Not every expenditure that benefits the debtor’s household or his family is a household expense. And, if it’s not a household expense, it doesn’t get added to CMI in a single spouse bankruptcy filing. That’s how the marital adjustment should work. But it’s not so simple. Household expense is not an expansive definition After last week’s […]
Can You Tell A Lien From A Secured Claim?
By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice
The underwater second deed of trust was listed on Schedule F in the debtor’s prior Chapter 13 case as an unsecured claim. Functionally, the lien was without value. But, the debtor, now my client in a subsequent case, took a gentle tongue lashing from a bankruptcy judge about the classification of the claim on the […]
How To Insure The Debt Isn’t Discharged In Bankruptcy
By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice
The settlement agreement, fully executed, provided explicitly that the obligation was not dischargeable in bankruptcy. So why did plaintiff’s counsel have to prosecute the claim again when the defendant filed bankruptcy? Because the terms of the settlement agreement didn’t track the elements of the bankruptcy code’s elements for non dischargeable debts. Done properly, the agreement […]
Time Running Out To Comment On Proposed Form Changes
By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice
After Friday, February 14, no one will care about your critique of the new bankruptcy forms. Speak before then, and you may influence whether these forms, as written, are modified before adoption. Text of the changes Page for making comments I’ve been told that putting one observation per comment is more effective than writing an […]
How To Wield Influence And Change The Rules Of The Game
By Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice
Change is coming to the rules of bankruptcy that drive what we do and the forms we must use to do it. We can try to shape the change or just react against it. Or as the traditional wedding service exhorts: speak now or forever hold your peace. Public comment closing Feb. 15 The Rules […]
