Chapter 7 bankruptcy is used by individuals under extreme financial burdens to pay off their debts. Because Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidates your assets to pay off those debts, buying stock during this time might be difficult. When you file for bankruptcy, you will need to give a full accounting of your finances and assets, which will be placed under the authority of the bankruptcy court. If you have money to spend in your bank account, the court will likely not let you use it to buy stocks if you still have debts to satisfy. However, you might have justifiable reasons for doing so, which our attorneys can help argue to the court. We can also explore options to help keep some of the stocks you already own before filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. For a free case consultation with our bankruptcy lawyers, contact Young, Marr, Mallis & Deane at (215) 701-6519. Can I Invest in Stocks After Filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy can help individuals facing significant financial challenges get out from under the pressure of their debts and move on with their lives. While Chapter 7 bankruptcy is helpful, many people do not understand how filing for it will impact their assets, especially if they want to buy stocks. This has become a much more common issue over the years for those filing for bankruptcy, as online apps give them easier access to trade on various stock markets. Unfortunately, though, Chapter 7 bankruptcy can impact any property you come into possession of after filing for it. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is referred to as “liquidation” bankruptcy because the court sells, or “liquidates,” some of your assets to satisfy your debts. When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the court will appoint a trustee to oversee the case. One of the first steps the trustee takes after being appointed is to assess the assets you currently possess and separate them into exempt and non-exempt property. Exempt property typically includes your home, retirement accounts, and Social Security benefits and cannot be liquidated to satisfy your debts. Non-exempt property, on the other hand, is everything else you own, including cars, vacation homes, personal property, and stocks. These assets are fair game to be liquidated in your case. If you acquire any assets after starting your bankruptcy claim, you are legally required to report it to the assigned trustee. For instance, if you receive an inheritance, you must report it. Most states give trustees several years to discover hidden assets and claim them, known as the “lookback” period. Stocks are different, though. Buying stocks means you have the money to make investments. If you have the money to invest, the court will want that money put towards your bankruptcy debt, not gambling in the stock market, so it will likely not let you invest. Our bankruptcy attorneys can review your case and determine what arguments we can make to the court. We can also explore options with you that can help protect stocks you already own. How Can I Protect Stocks that I Already Owned Before Filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? As part of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy process, filers might be able to claim various exemptions to keep possession of some of their non-exempt personal property, including stocks. However, which exemptions will be available to you and how much they will protect you will depend on the state in which you are filing for bankruptcy. The following will help you understand how you can exempt personal property like your stocks during bankruptcy and what alternatives you have if your state does not exempt investments: State Personal Property Bankruptcy Exemptions Some states allow you to protect all of your stocks from being acquired during bankruptcy. For example, New Jersey allows those filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to keep 100% of their stocks and cannot be seized during any civil process in the state courts, according to N.J.S.A. § 2A:17-19. Maryland’s “wildcard” personal property exemption, on the other hand, only allows filers to protect up to $5,000 in personal property, according to Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art., § 11-504(f)(1)(i)(1). However, Maryland permits another $6,000 in personal property to also be claimed as exempt under a general wildcard exemption, as per § 11-504(b)(6). Not every state has an exemption for personal property or very good ones, so you will want to review your case with our team before deciding which exemptions to apply for. Pennsylvania bars individuals from claiming any exemptions for stocks during bankruptcy under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8124. In fact, Chapter 7 claimants can only protect up to $300 of personal property under Pennsylvania’s wildcard exemption, according to 42 Pa.C.S. § 8123(a). Thus, you will likely not have any coverage left over to protect your stocks after protecting other assets. Federal Personal Property Bankruptcy Exemptions If you are filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy in a state with inadequate or nonexistent exemptions for your stocks, we can help determine if the federal exemptions would offer more relief than your state’s. When federal exemptions are available, a debtor can claim up to $15,000 in property to be exempt from bankruptcy proceedings, according to 11 U.S.C. § 522(d)(1). However, most of the money in that exemption is reserved for real property, like your home. The federal wildcard exemption under 11 U.S.C. § 522(d)(5) does allow debtors to claim $800 in any personal property, plus up to $7,500 of whatever amount is left over from the $15,000 exemption, potentially protecting up to $8,300 in stocks. Can I Sell Stocks Before Filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? If you are instead considering selling some of your stocks before filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy rather than buying them, you will want to be careful. The court looks carefully at any financial transactions that occur prior to filing for bankruptcy and might consider selling stocks as attempting to hide assets for it and your creditors. Of course, selling your stocks might have been the only way for you to deal with the financial burdens that led you to file for bankruptcy in the first place. You might also sell your stocks before filing for bankruptcy to cover basic living expenses, like food, rent, and utilities. This is fine as long as your expenses can be justified to the court. If the stocks are sold to family or friends or sold for less than they are worth, the court could determine you were trying to hide them and dismiss your case. Worse, you will likely be charged with a crime for defrauding the court. Our Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorneys Can Help You with Your Case Today Our Philadelphia bankruptcy attorneys at Young, Marr, Mallis & Deane are ready to provide you with a free case review when you call (215) 701-6519.

   Commercial Chapter 11 Bankruptcies see a 34% increase in the first half of 2024. See  https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/national-news/commercial-chapter-11-bankrupcies-see-a-34-increase-in-the-first-half-of-2024/amp/ Jim Shenwick, Esq  917 363 3391  [email protected] Please click the link to schedule a telephone call with me.https://calendly.com/james-shenwick/15minWe help individuals & businesses with too much debt!

A Day of Historic Wins We knew we had a great day at the Lakelaw office when our friends and fellow attorneys were congratulating us on our back-to-back victories. So we thought we should tell our friends about it, too.  Bankruptcy Court Case Win #1: Green v. Leibowitz On Tuesday, July 16, 2024, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Green v. Leibowitz, affirming David Leibowitz’s position as the bankruptcy trustee that a Canadian retirement plan was subject to creditors’ claims and not exempt under Illinois law.This decision culminated two years of litigation in the bankruptcy court, the district court, and finally, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The Seventh Circuit even cited another Lakelaw win, People ex rel Leibowitz v. Family Vision Services, an Illinois Supreme Court decision that David Leibowitz won, in support of its decision.Before becoming a bankruptcy lawyer, David Leibowitz started his career as a clerk to a judge and former professor in the Illinois Appellate Court. David has successfully appealed in the Illinois Appellate Court and the Illinois Supreme Court, as well as bankruptcy appeals in the federal district court and appeals in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He has been on the brief in two matters in the United States Supreme Court.Get a free confidential consultation today.  Bankruptcy Court Case Win #2: Chapter 11 Reorganization Our winning streak continued later that afternoon. David Leibowitz asked the bankruptcy court to stop lawsuits against the principals of his Chapter 11 debtor client, so that they could focus on reorganizing their company in Chapter 11. Most of David’s friends discouraged him from trying this because they said a bankruptcy court would never grant this relief. But David knew this particular judge had granted precisely this sort of motion in another case 14 years ago. And despite opposition from 4 opponents and over 2 hours of their argument, Judge Cox issued a written, published opinion, enjoining or stopping, the lawsuits against the debtor’s principals so they could formulate their Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan without outside interference and costs.This victory came only two weeks after David filed his emergency motion for an injunction. Sometimes, justice can be swift as well as effective.  Secure Your Victory with Our Award-Winning Law Firm At Lakelaw, you can count on being represented fearlessly and passionately. Named one of the best bankruptcy law firms in the country by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, U.S. News & World Report, Martindale-Hubbell, and Lawdragon, we take great pride in providing all of our clients with razor-sharp and ethically sound legal services.Safely navigate personal and business bankruptcy with lawyers who care.  Get a Free Confidential ConsultationThe post Dual Victories: Lakelaw Wins 2 Important Court Cases in 1 Day appeared first on Lakelaw.

Law Review: Lois R. Lupica & Zach Neumann, Thwarting the Inevitability of Over-Indebtedness, 40 Emory Bankr. Dev. J. 155 (2024). Ed Boltz Mon, 07/22/2024 - 19:01 Available at:   https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/ebdj/vol40/iss2/1 Abstract: This Article focuses on how the law’s relationship with economic and political systems has dire effects upon communities at the local level. By challenging the ineffectiveness of these existing systems, this Article spotlights the stark inequalities in our society. This Article recognizes the bankruptcy system’s limitation as a remedy for debt relief and observes that bankruptcy is not a substitute for effective policies and programs that help the poor navigate financial crises. Part I analyzes a case study of a single household to illustrate two central problems at issue in this Article: first, the barriers erected by public- and private benefit system balkanization; second, low-income families’ lack of power in their housing, credit, and transportation transactions. Part II discusses the financial challenges faced by low-income families as they struggle to pay for housing, health care, and transportation with inadequate wages. This Part also articulates the relationship between the markets for housing, health care, transportation, and consumer credit with the inevitable consequence of low income families incurring high levels of high-cost debt when they cannot pay their bills. Part III asks an important question: Whose interests were served when the rules governing housing, credit, health care, and transportation were enacted and when the system for benefit access was designed? Part IV explores the extent to which lawyers can aid people in dire financial circumstances. Part V scrutinizes the role of the bankruptcy system through the LPE lens. Part VI offers suggestions for recalibrating the power imbalances that harm many low-income families in exigent financial circumstances. Part VII then discusses programs and strategies that can help stabilize families who emerge from financial crises. Finally, this Article concludes by reiterating the importance of challenging existing political and economic structures to smooth out the uneven landscape of inequality.  Commentary: Bankruptcy can be a solution for too much debt,  but it is not a solution for too little income. With proper attribution,  please share this post.  To read a copy of the transcript, please see: Blog comments Attachment Document thwarting_the_inevitability_of_over-indebtedness_compressed.pdf (669.29 KB) Category Law Reviews & Studies

Law Review: Ishaq Kundawala, Access to Justice: A Roadmap to Creating and Launching Consumer Bankruptcy Experiential Programs in Law Schools, 40 EMORY BANKR. DEV. J. 411 (2024). Ed Boltz Mon, 07/22/2024 - 18:53 Available at:  https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/ebdj/vol40/iss3/4  Abstract: It is increasingly difficult for people who need consumer bankruptcy relief to access it. Ironically, many of the people who most need it cannot afford it, and oftentimes they come from underserved communities. Large-scale solutions to this access to consumer bankruptcy problem have been discussed, and even proposed, but not yet implemented. While law schools cannot solve the access problem without congressional intervention, they can, at least, take steps to improve the status quo. One way law schools can address this problem is to create experiential programs focusing on consumer bankruptcy.  These types of programs offer a dual benefit. They offer a partial solution to the access problem by providing free or low-cost bankruptcy assistance to qualified members of the community on one hand, and practical learning opportunities for law students on the other. Right now, only seventeen law schools approved by the American Bar Association (the “ABA”) across nine states offer consumer bankruptcy experiential opportunities to their students. There is incredible potential for growth in this area. To be more specific, there are 180 other ABA-approved law schools that do not currently have such a program. By creating one, these law schools can add to the experiential   opportunities available to their students while simultaneously increasing their communities’ access to bankruptcy relief.  Ideally, each law school in the country should offer limited bankruptcy legal services to their communities. In Part I of this Essay, I explore the role of consumer bankruptcy experiential programs in law schools. These programs offer an ideal mix of transactional and litigation experiences, which help students become more practice-ready upon graduation while giving back to their community. In Part II of this Essay, I offer to law schools my tried-and-true formula for creating consumer bankruptcy experiential programs. I have created two of these programs to date, one in Florida, and the other more recently in Georgia. These programs can be surprisingly resource-neutral and quite simple for law schools to implement. If this Essay inspires just one more law school to create their own consumer bankruptcy program, then I have accomplished my central purpose for writing it.   Commentary: In addition to the benefits that the author identifies as resulting from law school bankruptcy clinics,  there are certainly other others, including that not only would law student learn about representing real-life debtors,  but this would increase the access of law school professors to actual debtors and cases as well,  perhaps bringing them down from their often remote Ivory Tower perspectives, which often fail to match actual bankruptcy law or practice. Perhaps by exposing more law students to consumer bankruptcy  with its challenges,  both intellectual and personal, and its joys, again both intellectual and personal,  this could serve to increase the number of young and diverse attorneys that are interested in this area of the law. The Bankruptcy IDEA Consortium might find that assisting in starting clinics to be an excellent way of working towards its  "continuing efforts to achieve a diverse bankruptcy community, promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, and facilitate opportunities for current and future bankruptcy practitioners." (Especially beyond just the Chapter 11 bar.) Law students will need, to comply with ABA and state bar requirements,  the assistance and oversight of practicing consumer attorneys.  And where  the author recognized that finding  consumer bankruptcy attorneys to assist is "much easier said than done",  perhaps the best place to start would be with NACBA,  as that is where the best consumer  bankruptcy attorneys can be found. (I would be more than happy to be a first point of contact.)  Even then,  many consumer bankruptcy attorneys might,  despite the best of  altruistic inclinations,  be hesitant to not only expend time serving as mentor,  but also fear that they are both only training the future competition but also diverting potential current (and paying) clients to a free clinic.  These concerns can,  however, be not just assuaged but flipped,  since  as these clinics should, as the paper recognizes,  focus on  assisting clients that are " suitable for non-complex, no-asset chapter 7 cases" , there will be many potential clients that neither qualify for Chapter 7,  whether because of assets,  income or other reason,  or would be better served by filing Chapter 13,  whether to save a house from foreclosure,  to obtain the more favorable mean test and liquidation analyses,  etc.    Those clients with either complicated Chapter 7 cases or in need of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy could and should be referred to the supervising consumer attorneys.   With proper attribution,  please share this post.    To read a copy of the transcript, please see: Blog comments Attachment Document schools_consumer_bankruptcy_experiential_programs_in_law_schools.pdf (669.44 KB) Category Law Reviews & Studies

Law Review (Economics): Bruze, Gustaf and Hilsløv, Alexander and Maibom, Jonas, The Long-Run Effects of Individual Debt Relief. IZA Discussion Paper No. 17047 Stafford Patterson Mon, 07/22/2024 - 18:45 Available at: https://docs.iza.org/dp17047.pdf Abstract: Individuals with extensive debt may be granted debt relief in court. We provide a comprehensive evaluation of the Danish debt relief program with data from court records linked to nationwide register data. Using event-study methods and quasi-random assignment of applicants to court trustees with varying admission rates, we show that debt relief leads to a large increase in earned income, employment, assets, real estate, secured debt, home ownership, and wealth that persists for more than 25 years after a court ruling. The net transition of workers into employment accounts for two thirds of the increase in earned income.  Commentary: While this research examined the long-term consequences of debt for Danish consumers granted debt relief,  as consumer bankruptcy in the United States is "considered more debtor-friendly than in Continental Europe" (although the social safety net in Europe and especially Denmark is much greater),  many of the findings in this paper likely hold true here as well. (Although further research would be welcome, but I suspect American bankruptcy researchers are jealous of the amount of statistical data available from Danish cases.)   These finding include,  that consumer granted debt relief: Have 26% higher earned income, likely because consumers that can keep their income,  rather than paying it to creditors, have greater incentives to work+; Are 11.7 % more likely to be employed; Are 12.2 % less likely to be out of the labor force; Are 25% more likely to own a house or an apartment,  Accumulate more assets corresponding to an increase of about 200% of the follow-up mean; Have less unsecured debt; Have more secured debt, i.e. they have presumably been able to obtain credit to purchase vehicles and/or home, ; and  Accumulate more wealth relative to debtors who are denied debt relief.    These findings should guide  law and policy makers in decisions about how and when to grant or expand debt relief,  including not only specifically bankruptcy regimes but also related property exemptions,  debt collection protections,  etc., as those would all seem to have tremendous long-term benefits for consumers.  Further,  these statistics can be used to show consumers,  who often file bankruptcy far less frequently than  rational economic theory would predict, many of the long-term benefits for themselves and their families of what can initially be a costy (psychologically and  financially) decision. Also see:  Jason Kilborn at Credit Slips  Long-run (positive) effects of personal debt relief With proper attribution,  please share this post.  To read a copy of the transcript, please see: Blog comments Attachment Document the_long-run_effects_of_individual_debt_relief_compressed-1-50.pdf (523.33 KB) Document the_long-run_effects_of_individual_debt_relief_compressed-51-100.pdf (708.15 KB)

Before filing for bankruptcy, some people might move assets or transfer them to a family member. However, this practice is illegal and will be considered as hiding assets in a bankruptcy case. Individuals in Pennsylvania must give a full accounting of their assets when they file for bankruptcy. Any transactions or sales before filing for bankruptcy will be seen as suspicious. Fortunately, our attorneys can help you amend a bankruptcy filing if you made a mistake or overlooked assets you did not know you had. The state has a great deal of time to discover hidden assets, so it is best to be honest and forthcoming with your financial disclosures. If not, you could face criminal charges in addition to your case being dismissed. Our Pennsylvania bankruptcy attorneys at Young, Marr, Mallis & Deane can provide you with a free case review by calling us at (215) 701-6519. How Do Pennsylvania Courts Decide if Assets Are Being Hidden in a Bankruptcy Case? When you file for bankruptcy in Pennsylvania, some of your assets will usually be sold off to satisfy and discharge your debts. When the court accepts a bankruptcy filing, the person filing will need to make a full accounting of their assets to the court. However, some people think they can trick the court by hiding assets. There are a number of ways people attempt to do this, but the court is very good at discovering assets that do not want to be found. Unfortunately, some financial transactions might be legitimate but appear as if you are attempting to hide assets, which can jeopardize your entire bankruptcy case. Our West Chester, PA bankruptcy attorneys can help you accurately assess your assets so you can legitimately discharge your debts. We can also help you amend a filing if you discovered or inherited assets after making your financial disclosures to the court. The following will help you understand what actions the court might consider as hiding assets and how it discovers those assets: What the Court Considers Hiding Assets One of the most common ways people hide assets is by selling their property to family or friends. While this might seem like a clever bypass, it is also illegal. You might not be in possession of the asset in question, but the willful sale of property with the purpose of keeping it close is considered fraud. It will also drag your friends and family into the crime, as they can now be sued for the property to recover the asset and sell it in your bankruptcy case. Some individuals actually ask their attorney to hide assets. However, a lawyer who helps hide assets will likely not be practicing law for long and could end up criminally prosecuted along with their client. If another firm says that it can help transfer property before filing your bankruptcy claim, it should send up an immediate red flag. Other petitioners simply lie about the assets and finances in their possession. They might move financial assets to offshore bank accounts that cannot be tracked easily or lie about the value of an asset so its value is not factored into the discharge. Other times, petitioners fail to list an asset in the hopes that the court will overlook it. These are considered premeditated actions. At the very least, you might lose your right to use bankruptcy to discharge your debts. In the worst-case scenario, you could be criminally charged by the state and federal government. The court has a great deal of resources and time to find hidden assets. How Assets Are Found After filing for bankruptcy, the court will appoint a “bankruptcy trustee.” This person oversees the debtor’s estate during the course of the bankruptcy lawsuit. It is ultimately their job to look for and find a debtor’s hidden assets. To do this, the trustee will review your financial records, debts, payroll records, tax returns, bank records, and any other record they consider relevant to their search. In most cases, the trustee is looking for undisclosed income or property. They often use public records to determine whether a debtor undervalued their property in their filing. They will also compare your bank statements with your employment and pay records. If a trustee finds discrepancies between what you have claimed and what they have found, they can file a motion with the court to address it. From there, it will be up to the court to determine what the punishment should be. They might determine it was an honest mistake and amend the bankruptcy filing. Or, they might recommend the case for prosecution. A bankruptcy trustee also has a few years to find hidden assets. In Pennsylvania, a trustee has up to four years from the initial bankruptcy filing to discover hidden assets and report them to the court, according to 12 Pa.C.S. § 5109. This is commonly known as the “look-back” period. If you learn about assets you were previously unaware of or inherit property, you should report it immediately to the court if you are still within the four-year look-back period. What Are the Penalties for Hiding Assets in Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Case? The court considers hiding assets a serious offense and can punish a debtor for it in a number of ways. If the court or trustee discovers hidden assets before your filing is accepted, you will likely not be allowed to discharge your debts. Thus, your bankruptcy case will typically be dismissed. However, that does not mean you will keep the assets you hid. In some cases, your non-exempt property can still be retained by the court to satisfy your debts, and you will still be responsible for the remaining amount to your creditors. Your bankruptcy case can also be revoked after the court has approved it. If your case’s trustee finds hidden assets, they will petition the court to revoke your claim. Remember, trustees have up to four years to request that your filing be revoked. You might also harm future opportunities to file for bankruptcy. If the court sees that you hid assets in your last filing, it can deny your new case outright. Even if the court did allow the case, you would not be able to discharge the debts still lingering from the previous filing. The worst offenders hiding assets can expect to face criminal prosecution. Under 18 U.S.C. § 157, those guilty of bankruptcy fraud can be fined up to $250,000 as well as be imprisoned for up to five years. It is considered perjury to hide assets since the court is being lied to. Our Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Attorneys Can Help For a free case evaluation with our Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyers, contact Young, Marr, Mallis & Deane at (215) 701-6519.

When someone files for bankruptcy, the court needs to know what kind of accounts, assets, and other holdings they might have. This information is important as courts need to know if someone is eligible for bankruptcy based on their assets or if they can be liquidated during bankruptcy. When you declare your assets, you should also be prepared to prove they are accurate and truthful. Proving that your asset declarations in a bankruptcy case are truthful might be as simple as having official documentation or paperwork to back them up. Bank statements, receipts from transactions, or even documentation of appraisals of property might be necessary. If the court does not believe your declarations are truthful, speak to an attorney. If there is additional information you can present to the court, your lawyer should be able to help you do it. This is crucial in your case, as false or misleading declarations might land you in serious legal trouble. Get a confidential assessment of your case for no charge by calling our bankruptcy lawyers at Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates at (215) 701-6519. What Are Asset Declarations in Bankruptcy and Why They Must be Truthful When a person files for bankruptcy, they must submit information about their bank accounts, assets, property, holdings, and other financial interests. For some, this might be a rather short list. For others with more complicated finances, they might be longer and more difficult to compile. It is crucial that your asset declarations are complete and accurate, as the bankruptcy court needs to know the full extent of your financial situation, including assets and debts. The court will not be pleased if your declarations are less than accurate. Asset declarations are often included in typical bankruptcy forms. When our bankruptcy lawyers file your bankruptcy petition for you, forms where you can include asset declarations are likely already included. However, suppose you have a long and somewhat complicated list of assets to declare. In that case, we might need to add extra forms or attach additional information about your assets to your bankruptcy petition. If the court suspects a petitioner’s asset declarations are untrue, the petitioner might be accused of fraud. It is not uncommon for some petitioners to try to hide assets from the court. Their plan is usually to hide these assets so that when everything is liquidated, they have other secret assets to fall back on. Petitioners who do this often believe they are not doing anything wrong and are only protecting themselves. The truth is, this is highly illegal. How to Prove Your Asset Declarations Are Tue and Correct in a Bankruptcy Case Now that you know how important it is to ensure your asset declarations are truthful and accurate, the next step is to figure out how to ensure their accuracy. Again, people with rather straightforward finances will likely have little trouble assembling their asset declarations. Maybe you own a home, a car, and a few banking or investment accounts. If your assets are more complicated, speak to an attorney about how to make sure all necessary information is included in your declarations. Records and documentation are key to making sure asset declarations are truthful. Your bank is one of the first places we should go for such documentation. Bank records about all accounts you have with that bank should be collected and reviewed. If you have accounts or holdings with multiple banks, we need records of your accounts and holdings from each bank. The more recent these records are, the more accurate your declarations will be. We should also consider assets you might have acquired through transactions. For example, maybe you recently purchased a home or sold another property. We should get records and receipts of those transactions. These records should contain details about the transaction’s value and your gains or losses. Even relatively small transactions should be included. Even ordinary account statements may be helpful. People often receive bank statements monthly. We can obtain copies of your most recent statements to include in your asset declarations. This might be helpful for things like checking and savings accounts. Even if these accounts are small or empty, we should have the statements to prove it. If you own valuable personal belongings (e.g., jewelry, art, collectibles), itemized lists of those belongings might be necessary. We should also consider having these items appraised so that their value is accurately reflected in your asset declarations. What to Do if the Bankruptcy Court Suspects Your Asset Declarations Are False If the court believes that your asset declarations are not truthful, do not panic. While courts do not take fraud lightly, and the potential penalties might be serious, not all instances of false declarations are intentional. Tell your attorney if your false declarations were due to a clerical error or mistakes in record keeping. Your lawyer can explain the situation to the court and hopefully buy you some extra time to get your records in order and make sure everything is accurate. Another possibility is that you left certain assets out of your declarations because you believed they were exempt. Bankruptcy exemptions are not unusual, and petitioners exclude things all the time. However, you must inform the court about what exemptions you plan on claiming. You cannot simply leave those assets out. Penalties for Submitting False Asset Declarations in a Bankruptcy Case You might face some unpleasant consequences if you submit less than truthful asset declarations during bankruptcy proceedings. First, the court may reconsider your bankruptcy petition. In some cases, assets that were not declared make the petitioner ineligible for bankruptcy, depending on how they file. If this is the case, the court will deny your petition. Perhaps the problem with your asset declarations did not come to light until after the court discharged your debts. In such a case, the court may revoke the discharge, and you will again be liable for those debts. You might face criminal charges and penalties if court officials believe you intentionally misled them by submitting false asset declarations. You could be charged with crimes related to fraud and perjury, and your bankruptcy petition will likely be dismissed. Contact Our Bankruptcy Attorneys for Help with Your Case Get a confidential assessment of your case for no charge by calling our Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyers at Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates at (215) 701-6519.

You never know just how a client hears your advice, until you hear yourself quoted back to yourself as the reason for a client doing something stupid. In my case, I’m unclear about whether the message received was really as reported, but it’s made me think about my choice of words. I was asked in […] The post Bankruptcy and the “hard of hearing” appeared first on Bankruptcy Mastery.

Law Review (Economics) Legal, Diego and Eric R. Young. 2024. "Consumer Bankruptcy and Unemployment Insurance." Working Paper No. 24-09. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Ed Boltz Thu, 07/18/2024 - 16:26 Available at: https://doi.org/10.26509/frbc-wp-202409. Abstract: We quantitatively evaluate the effects of UI on bankruptcy in an equilibrium model of labor market search and defaultable debt. First, we ask whether a standard unsecured credit model extended with labor market search and matching frictions can account for the negative correlation between UI caps and bankruptcy rates observed in the data. The model can account for this fact only if estimated with the employment rate among bankruptcy filers as a target. Not matching this employment rate underestimates the consumption smoothing benefits of UI cap increases, as the model assigns too much importance to unemployment shocks for driving default, and implies large welfare losses from increasing the cap rather than negligible gains. Second, with bankruptcy available, there are significant welfare gains from increasing the replacement rate above the calibrated value, but not in the absence of default. Commentary: As  this paper finds that more generous unemployment insurance benefits reduce the number of bankruptcies,  it would seem that a reasonable conclusion to draw would be that for state governments,  many of which have for years, not decades, sought to privatize all kinds of public benefits - from underwriting public universities to ending fixed benefit pensions in exchange for 401ks to hints of privatizing Social Security,  to keep unemployment insurance benefits low,  shifting the costs of lost income onto private lenders through bankruptcy.  With proper attribution,  please share this post.  To read a copy of the transcript, please see: Blog comments Attachment Document consumer_bankruptcy_and_unemployment_insurance_compressed.pdf (900.89 KB) Category Law Reviews & Studies