Original Plan When a chapter 13 bankruptcy case is filed, an original plan is also filed with the court. The original plan is put forward to notify creditors, the trustee, and the court as to how the debtor proposes to repay creditors over a three to five-year period. The original plan is not likely to be the plan that actually gets confirmed by the court. There may be several amendments to the plan and schedules before a case is actually in a position to be confirmed. In a recent case, the plan and the schedules were amended nearly a dozen times prior to confirmation. We do whatever it takes when amending the Chapter 13 plan for confirmation. The amended documents must be filed with the + Click Here For Read More

You Will Make It Through Your Bankruptcy; Don't Panic For many people the thought of filing for bankruptcy is devastating. If it turns out that you need to file and you simply cannot pay off your debt, listen to the advice of your bankruptcy attorney and don't panic. There are several panic mode incidents which will lead to harm in your bankruptcy. Some of these instances are obvious while others are not so obvious. Before you transfer assets, before you liquidate property and before you do anything out of the normal course of your financial life, talk to an experienced bankruptcy attorney about the options available to you. Don’t Run-Up Credit One panic mode to avoid would be to charge + Click Here For Read More

New Local Form 25 Effective June 12, 2015, there is a new method to have chapter 13 payroll control orders entered before the court. The new system completely streamlines the process of getting the order entered quickly and effectively. The clerk's office in the Northern District of Illinois came up with a new form, local form number 25 entitled “order to employer to pay the trustee.”  This new form is a fillable order that can be easily amended and changed based upon which chapter 13 trustee is assigned to the case. For example, if the trustee is Glenn Stearns, then all of the information including the mail to address is indicated with Glenn Stearns. If the trustee is Marilyn Marshall or + Click Here For Read More

Section 329 of title 11 United States Code is entitled debtor's transaction with attorneys. This section gives the court oversight in financial as well as transactional relationships between debtors and their attorneys. It basically states that any attorney representing the debtor in bankruptcy shall file with the court a statement of the compensation paid for or agreed to be paid if such agreement was made after one year before the date of filing the petition. The statement must also list the source of the compensation and whether it is coming from the debtor or a third party. The court then has the ability under section 329 to determine whether that compensation exceeds the reasonable + Click Here For Read More

Most chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees in Cook County do a great job of balancing their duties while administering chapter 7 cases. There are more than a select few Trustees who seem to be growing towards advancing these cases beyond what they were intended to be. Let me provide a little background. The duties of a trustee are specifically enumerated in Section 704 of 11 United States Code. The general nature of a trustee's duties under chapter 7 is to administer the estate of any nonexempt assets that the debtor may have. Specifically, the trustee shall collect and reduced to money the property of the estate for which the trustee serves and close such estate as expeditiously as is compatible + Click Here For Read More

Bankruptcy Misconception There is a misconception out there that states that a married couple must file a joint bankruptcy case. This is simply not the case at all. It is true that the total family budget is a factor in determining whether a bankruptcy case can be filed and of which chapter. However, there is no requirement that each party files a joint case. In fact, in many circumstances it makes perfect sense for only one spouse to file for bankruptcy relief. Example To cite one example of a couple that I met with recently who sought my legal advice concerning chapter 13 bankruptcy: The couple had approximately $125,000 worth of credit card debt. Of that total, only $14,000 of it could + Click Here For Read More

There are many keys to having a successful chapter 13 bankruptcy case. Most importantly, a successful case is one where the debtor has the financial ability to reorganize, the determination to see it through and the ability to satisfy the many requirements of the bankruptcy code. One main factor that I found to be a key to success in a chapter 13 bankruptcy case is to get off to a good start. This includes hiring the right attorney, providing the most detailed information to your attorney, having a petition and plan prepared and filed and following the advice of your attorney. It is also extremely important to get off to a good start with your trustee. This all starts with providing the + Click Here For Read More

During a recent chapter 7 341 meeting of creditors, the trustee inquired about a stock loss. The inquiry was a result of examining the debtor's tax return for the current year and seeing a carryover loss of nearly $40,000. The trustee wrongfully believed that the debtor had sold or liquidated $40,000 worth of stock during the prior year. If that were the case, the trustee would be clearly within his rights to inquire as to what happened with those funds. However, the trustee did not comprehend the actual $40,000 loss on the tax return. There were no funds released to the debtor as a result of the stock sale. Rather, the sale of stock resulted in a loss that the debtor was allowed to carry + Click Here For Read More

Recovering Your Vehicle More and more clients are filing chapter 13 bankruptcy to recover their vehicle which was impounded by the city of Chicago. This is the very common case where someone with Chicago parking tickets winds up on the boot list and eventually their vehicle gets impounded. They also receive a notice from the Secretary of State in Springfield that their drivers’ licenses are suspended due to those very same parking tickets. For individuals who find themselves in this predicament, there are very few solutions. The first solution is pretty untenable. That would be paying off the debt or working out a very high installment payment plan with the city of Chicago in order to + Click Here For Read More

You can file a bankruptcy case on your own which is known as filing pro se. However, I would not recommend this and I would certainly never recommend it in a chapter 13 bankruptcy case. Approximately once per month, someone will come into my office who has filed a bankruptcy case on their own behalf and they have found that they need an attorney’s help. Sometimes if the case is early in the process, I can jump in and file the proper amendments and get the case on track. In other cases, too much time has elapsed, deadlines have passed, and there is no realistic way to save the particular case. This is where a refile option comes into play. Just recently I took in a case where a woman had + Click Here For Read More