In re: Smith-Canfield, No. 08-61630-fra13 (Bankr. D. Oregon, May 17, 2011). Your attorney in a bankruptcy proceeding should always behave in a professional way, and keep your interests paramount.  If your attorney has interests that conflict with  yours, they may be violating rules of professional conduct.   In order to avoid such conflicts, your attorney should […]

In re: Mortensen, No. A09-90036-DMD (Bankr. D. Alaska, May 26, 2011). Sometimes, people who file bankruptcy need to wipe clean their debts, but fear losing some valuable asset.  In order to avoid losing their car or their home, they try to hide the asset or make it unavailable to the court. A trust is a […]

What is a Cram down? Cram down is only available in chapter 13 bankruptcy and is a way to reduce the total amount you will pay to obtain a free and clear title to your vehicle. If you purchased your vehicle more than 90 days prior to filing for bankruptcy protection and the fair market […]

When you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you prepare a plan to repay your debts as much as you can. At the end of the plan, you will be able to wipe clean many debts that you were not able to pay off. By law, the plan must be 3 years long, unless you make […]

The purpose of filing bankruptcy is to allow the debtor to have a fresh start. By using a Tempe bankruptcy attorney, it enables the debtor to ensure the case is filed properly and is increasingly more likely that the debtor will receive a discharge. There are checks and balances in the bankruptcy system to weed […]

When you file for bankruptcy, you must inform any potential creditors that you filed, so that they can come forward and ask for what you owe them.  If they do not do this within a certain time, they lose all rights to claim anything from you. There are, however, six exceptions to the rule that […]

Wherever you decide to file for bankruptcy, that location is presumed to be the right one until it is successfully challenged by a creditor or the trustee in your case, whose job it is to administer your estate.   However, once challenged, there is a rule for where to file.  You can file where you were […]

After a bankruptcy case is completed, the trustee will get paid.  Trustees administer your bankruptcy case, and will be paid according to a commission based on how many assets are sold to pay creditors.  This is an obvious incentive to liquidate assets, but the trustee’s salary will have to be reasonable, also. In this case, […]

When you file for bankruptcy, who receives your home depends on a lot of factors.  You may get your home if it falls under certain laws, called exemptions.  Your creditors may receive it if they have a mortgage on it with what is called priority, meaning that they stand first in line. In this case, […]

When you file for bankruptcy, you have to tell all your creditors that you file.  Once you have notified them of the case, they are required to file a proof of claim, which is paperwork establishing to the court that you owe them something.  If they fail to file the proof of claim, they may […]