Are Assets in a Trust Protected in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Michigan?

Placing assets into a trust is not always an effective means of protecting those assets from creditors, or, thereby, from the asset liquidation power of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees.

As I’ve written here before, a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is a “liquidation” bankruptcy both in that your debt is liquidated, or discharged, and in that there is a possibility that your assets will be liquidated during the bankruptcy process. A Trustee assigned to your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case by the Bankruptcy Court has the duty of seizing and liquidating personal assets that are valued above the limits of the protective exemptions provided by the Bankruptcy Code statute. While, in most Chapter 7 Bankrutpcies, these exemptions are sufficient to cover everything a typical household generally has, some higher earning or higher asset households may include assets that cannot be protected with the available protective exemptions. Thus, in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, those assets are subject to seizure and sale for the benefit of the filing person’s creditors by the Bankruptcy Trustee.

Continue reading

Can I Still Pay My Child’s Private School Tuition in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy, as I’ve described here in prior posts, is essentially a monthly payment plan in which some and sometimes all of your debts are paid according to what, in theory, you can afford to pay after your basic household expenses are met each month. In other words, you pay in a Chapter 13 what you have left over each month of your available income after paying your household bills.

The question, from the point of view of the Chapter 13 Trustees who are assigned to your case by the Bankruptcy Court after your case is filed and whose job it is to review proposed Chapter 13 Plans and either approve or object to them, is: what is a necessary household expense?

Continue reading

What Is My Redemption Period in Michigan if I Have More Than 3 Acres of Land?

As of December, 2011, the amount of acreage owned is no longer a factor in determining the length of the post-foreclosure sheriff’s sale redemption period in Michigan. Prior to December, 2011, foreclosure of land more than 3 acres required a “redemption period” of 12 months as opposed to the 6 months required for non-abandoned property of less than 3 acres.

Continue reading

Is My Social Security Overpayment Dischargeable in Bankruptcy?

Overpayments of Social Security benefits are unsecured debts just like credit cards and medical bills, and they are therefore dischargeable in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy in most cases, short of any finding of fraudulence in the acceptance of the payment by the recipient. In other words, so long as you did not accept the payments knowing that you were not entitled to it—or knowing that you were about to file for bankruptcy—the overpayment amount can be discharged in a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Continue reading

How Can I Save My Home with a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

While Bankruptcy is one of the most cost-effective and efficient legal means of walking away from an underwater or foreclosed home available, it is also, under the right circumstances, a better means of saving a home in danger of foreclosure than other non-bankruptcy strategies, such as mortgage modification.

Continue reading

What Is Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a “reorganization” bankruptcy rather than a complete liquidation of debt as in a Chapter 7. A Chapter 13 is, basically, a payment plan enforced by the Federal Bankruptcy Court upon all of your creditors, whether the debt is a “dischargeable” debt like a credit card or “non-dischargeable” debt like a child support arrearage or recent income taxes owed. Contrary to popular belief, you are not required to pay back 100% of what you owe to your creditors in a Chapter 13.

Continue reading

Is There Really a Stigma to Filing Bankruptcy?

One of the concerns most frequently expressed to me in consultations with potential Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy clients in my southeast Michigan practice is whether their reputations will be ruined by the filing of a bankruptcy. It is almost universally believed, I gather from my clients, that a bankruptcy, once filed and once known of by the general public, will result in both a sullied business and personal reputation and also in a complete inability to get credit of any sort of years to come.

These are serious concerns for people who do see bankruptcy as a way out of what very realistically may be a hopeless financial situation but also a potential impediment for moving forward afterward.

Continue reading