What New Bankruptcy Lawyers Need To Know: Beyond The Code

What Keeps Me Busy

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

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 don't seem to be any simple cases anymore. Debtors who have managed to avoid filing bankruptcy til this late in … [Continue reading...]

Bankruptcy Sales Free And Clear

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Real property

Now that the real estate market in my area is improving, we are dusting off another of our little used skills to effect sales of property during a Chapter 13: the sale free and clear of liens. The ability to sell property subject to disputes and continue the fight over a bank account, rather than a piece of property, is one of the real treasures in the Bankruptcy Code. A sale free and … [Continue reading...]

When Just-In-Time Is Just Right

By Mark Markus 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 to take two … [Continue reading...]

Phantom Creditors In Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Before filing

Don't overlook in rem liability when scheduling creditors. These phantom creditors often waft through the lives of debtors. The client may not see them, but as debtor's lawyers,we must pull those creditors into the light. Phantom creditors may have no claim against the debtor personally, but nonetheless, need to be scheduled. Liabilities of property In rem is nifty-sounding Latin, the … [Continue reading...]

Can You Tell A Lien From A Secured Claim?

By Cathy Moran, Esq. 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 schedules. As a debtor you need to choose a reliable lawyer, like this BOI company … [Continue reading...]

How To Insure The Judgment Isn’t Discharged In Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

The settlement agreement, fully executed, provided explicitly that the obligation was not dischargeable in bankruptcy. So how come the successful resolution stood to go up in flames 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. With agreed facts, the … [Continue reading...]

Married: Assorted Bankruptcy Exemption Issues

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Family Law in Bankruptcy

Our series on family law and bankruptcy continues with an exploration of a mixed bag of exemption and property-of-the-estate questions colored by the fact the debtor has been married. Non debtors claim exemptions Section 522(b) opens with a provision that the debtor may exempt from the property of the estate property described in the section or in applicable state law and non … [Continue reading...]

Mortgage Servicers In The Crosshairs

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Real property

The sign on my office door should read: Armed and Dangerous Dangerous, anyway, if you are a mortgage servicer. I have a bunch more arrows in my quiver thanks to new bankruptcy rules and new regulations. Most of them relate to home ownership and mortgages. FRBP 3002.1 Sitting on my desk is a notice of fees filed in one of my Chapter 13 cases pursuant to 3002.1. About $500 in fees and … [Continue reading...]

Can Family Court Order Discharged Spouse To Indemnify The Other?

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Family Law in Bankruptcy

File bankruptcy before or after a divorce? It's the classic bankruptcy family law conundrum. We think about about bankruptcy addressing the claims of third parties against the spouses. But consider the impact of a bankruptcy discharge granted to one spouse prior to the resolution of the divorce. What are the options and alternatives for the non filing spouse? Our local Inn of Court … [Continue reading...]

How To Wield Influence And Change The Rules Of The Game

By Cathy Moran, Esq. 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 Committee has posted their recommended changes to these bankruptcy rules and to some official … [Continue reading...]

Domestic Support Obligations: When The Rules We Know Change

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Family Law in Bankruptcy

As bankruptcy lawyers, we'd like to get the world trained to simply halt in their tracks when a bankruptcy is filed and the automatic stay is invoked. It's not so simple when there are family law proceedings afoot. Automatic stay Section 362(a) enjoins continuation of an action against the debtor to recover a claim or the enforcement of a judgment against the debtor or property of the … [Continue reading...]

The Not So Secret Rules Of Bankruptcy Service

By Jay Jump Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Today's post comes from Jay Jump, Washington bankruptcy attorney and expert on service in bankruptcy cases. When he waxed animated and eloquent on the subject on a list serve we frequent, I roped him into telling us more about service. When is service required?, was the original question. A better question to ask might be ' What is service?'. Answer that and then we can get to when … [Continue reading...]

Non Support Debts In Bankruptcy: Our Options Have Changed

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Family Law in Bankruptcy

Read the case annotations for Section 523(a)(15)of the Bankruptcy Code casually, and you can go really wrong. It's like the phone tree admonition: listen carefully because our options have changed. Before 2005, the dischargeability of non support obligations to former spouse or child incurred by the debtor in the course of divorce might be dischargeable, based on a weighing of the … [Continue reading...]

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