For an individual considering bankruptcy, the question often arises, “[C]an I keep the money I inherited in an IRA from Grandpa Joe when he passed away?” There is no easy answer to this question, as United States Bankruptcy Courts for the Middle District of Florida have shown.
The answer, as it so often is under the law, is “it depends.” The May 2011 issue of the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal featured an article on Inherited IRAs titled Inherited IRAs: Exemption Issues under the Code.
Since the Florida Supreme Court liberalized the application of the $4,000 wildcard exemption in February, 2011. The Supreme Court said that the wildcard exemption can be stacked upon the Constitutional exemptions for personal property and automobiles for any debtor who does not claim the homestead exemption in bankruptcy and where the homestead exemption does not otherwise impede the trustees administration of the bankruptcy estate. Some bankruptcy trustees have suggested that debtors are ineligible for the wildcard exemptions when they indirectly get the benefit of a homestead exemption even though they do not expressly claim the homestead exemption on their bankruptcy schedules. The trustees are trying to chip away pieces of the wildcard exemption in order to increase the value of property subject to the trustee’s administration and trustee commission.
A recent bankruptcy court decision addressed two such trustee arguments seeking to disallow the debtors wildcard exemption. The court first considered the situation when a debtor owned an upside down homestead. The debtor intends to retain the home and reaffirm the mortgage. Because the house has no equity, the debtor did not claim any amount of homestead exemption. The court considered whether a debtor receives the benefits of a homestead exemption, and therefore is ineligible for the wildcard exemption, when the trustee is unlikely to administer the upside down house and the debtor intends to retain the house.
The court held that a debtor does not receive the benefit of a constitutional homestead exemption that he does not claim as exempt in bankruptcy even if the trustee is likely to abandon the property because it has no value. The court also held that a debtor does not receive the benefit of a homestead exemption if he declares his intent to retain the upside down homestead. Actual surrender of the homestead to a mortgage lender is not required to claim the wildcard exemption. The case is: 3:10-6845
Secured Credit Cards can be a very helpful tool when attempting to re-establish your credit after bankruptcy. They can also be useful for younger individuals seeking to establish credit for the first time. Hopefully, this video will help you navigate the maze of secured credit cards.
One of the biggest problems in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is failure to make plan payments. As we all know, individuals in Chapter 13 bankruptcy are required to make monthly payments for 36 to 60 months, unless all creditors are paid in full prior to that time. For any number of reasons, an individual may have something happen in their lives which will cause them to miss a payment to the Trustee's office. When this happens, it is important to speak with your attorney's office. Otherwise, the Court will dismiss your bankruptcy case if payments are not made. Therefore, it is very important to keep good track of your payments.
If you are purchasing a vehicle and you file Chapter 7, your options are (1) surrender the vehicle, (2) reaffirm the existing loan, or (3) redeem the vehicle by paying the lender fair market value. Redemption, which is described at Section 722 of the Bankruptcy Code used to be an uncommon choice. More recently, however, several lenders have entered the market to finance Section 722 redemptions. In this video, I discuss how redemptions work and how to know if a Motion for Redemption under Section 722 is a good idea.
A question that I get asked quite often is: Do I have to go to Court when I file for Bankruptcy? The answer is yes and no. Please watch for the answer.
A 20 year Bankruptcy Trustee has been charged with Wire Fraud in the Southern District of Florida. This is the Second Chapter 7 Trustee in the Souther District that is being investigated for financial improprieties.
Marika Tolz is the Chapter 7 Trustee under investigation for missing funds. The other Chapter 7 Trustee awaiting sentencing is Lewis Freeman.
This is a very unfortunate situation. As a bankruptcy attorney who believes in the integrity of the bankruptcy system and has seen the system work for thousands and thousands of clients, I really do not like to see the system tainted in anyway at all.
Although I do not agree with many of the rules and regulations in the Bankruptcy Code, I truly believe the system works as effectively.
Are you tired of poking around website after website? Have you been thinking of requesting a consultation with a bankruptcy attorney? Do you think they are all the same? Well, I'm here to tell you that they are not all the same.
Now, you may be saying that I don’t know anything about you, and you would be correct. But, I and my law-firm have been helping people all-over Florida for over 15 years. I also know that there is more bad information than good information on the internet when it comes to solving your financial problems. It seems like every company on the web will offer you the world to just “click here”.
As a consumer bankruptcy attorney, I see people everyday struggling to get back to their feet after the economy has taken its toll on their finances. Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a very effective way to reorganize your debts and force creditors to accept a manageable payback plan, often for pennies on the dollar of the debt owed. You may be saying that sounds great, and it actually is very beneficial for the debtor who files. But, as with everything there are some drawbacks. If you want to make any significant financial moves, you will need to run it by the Judge.
In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the Bankruptcy Judge is involved in determining how bankruptcy debtors are permitted to spend their money. That means bankruptcy debtors also must ask for the Court’s approval before entering into certain financial transactions.
So you’ve filed bankruptcy, and you need to attend a Section 341 Meeting of Creditors with the trustee. So, who is this trustee? This is an important concept to understand before going into that 341 Meeting.
The trustee is the person appointed by the court to act as a neutral third party in reviewing your case and administering your assets (in other words, getting the creditors paid what they are entitled to in your case – or determining that they are not entitled to anything).
