If it was unclear whether an inherited individual retirement account (IRA) could be excluded from a New York bankruptcy, the U.S. Supreme Court has settled the issue. The topic came up late last year when the Court decided to hear the case. The lawsuit was between the bankruptcy petitioners, Heidi Heffron-Clark and Brandon Clark, and …
Supreme Court Holds Inherited IRAs Not (Directly) Exempt in Bankruptcy Read More »
Most New York bankruptcies are filed in chapter 7 because debtors have mainly unsecured consumer debts and don’t have the income for a chapter 13 repayment plan to be feasible. Others, though, prefer the benefits of chapter 13, but once they’re partway into it, they find that chapter 7 might be a better fit after …
Why Convert a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to Chapter 7? Read More »
The term “proof of claim” comes up in New York bankruptcy sometimes, and debtors often want to know what it means. For creditors, receiving them during a debtor’s bankruptcy means they need to know how to complete them. So what are they? A proof of claim is a document a creditor in a bankruptcy files …
Unsurprisingly, many New Yorkers live outside the United States, but they may still have significant connections to the state. If they run into financial difficulties, they might wonder if they can file bankruptcy from whatever country they happen to be living in. Fortunately, the laws regulating the federal courts make it possible for debtors to …
Discharge of debts is one of the primary goals of a New York bankruptcy, particularly chapter 7 filings. Covered in Section 524 of the Bankruptcy Code, the full name of the term is “discharge injunction,” which means it legally forbids anyone (creditors) from enforcing claims for payment against the debtor. That does not, however, mean …
How to Deal With Creditors Who Violate the Discharge Injunction Read More »
I recently discussed the four ways a chapter 13 New York bankruptcy repayment plan can be modified. The four mechanisms aren’t necessarily the same thing as the reasons parties to the repayment plan might be interested in modifying it. One reason that concerns debtors is if either the trustee or the creditors will move the …
How Income Increases Can Affect a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Read More »
One might think that the answer to that question is “nothing,” but that’s not true. It is sometimes worthwhile for debtors to file chapter 13 New York bankruptcy intending to pay their creditors in full even if the discharge isn’t really necessary—a filing referred to as a 100 percent repayment plan. Obviously it doesn’t happen …
What Are the Benefits of a 100 Percent Chapter 13 Repayment Plan? Read More »
Marriage and bankruptcy has come up on this blog recently, and because married couples often share debts, one obvious question is how they can use the bankruptcy process to their advantage. Here are several ways married partners can do so. (1) Because married partners aren’t obligated to file jointly when one of them encounters difficulties …
The New York Times ran a disturbing article in mid-April that investigated the cost of apartment rents in cities throughout the United States. The authors ranked U.S. cities by median rent as a share of median income. The good news, sort of, is that New York City only placed tenth at 39.5 percent. It was …
The Rental Housing Crisis and Renting After Bankruptcy Read More »
According to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), older Americans (65 and up) tend to have more mortgage debt than their cohort did in the past. Because they often live on fixed incomes, in times of economic stress older Americans can fall behind on payments, lose their houses in foreclosure, or …
CFPB Report: Older Americans’ Debts Pose Risks to Their Finances Read More »
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