Domestic support obligations, which include alimony, spousal maintenance, and child support, are considered priority claims under bankruptcy law. This means that if the debtor is making monthly payments under a Chapter 13 plan, the full monthly domestic support obligation must be paid in full as part of the plan, including those payments that become due after the bankruptcy petition is filed.
It also means that under either a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy or a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, no part of the debtor’s domestic support obligations are discharged, including the interest which has accrued on those obligations. Domestic support obligations continue to be a priority even when they are assigned to a governmental unit (usually the county Human Services Department) for collection purposes. Typically, only expenses incurred by the Bankruptcy trustee in the administration of the assets of the debtor are paid before payment is made of domestic support obligations.
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bankruptcy,
divorce
I frequently counsel with people who have a regular income, but simply cannot keep up with all of their monthly payments. Fortunately, there is a provision in the bankruptcy law called Chapter 13, which allows people with regular monthly income to fashion their own affordable repayment plan.
Each month, the debtor makes one payment into the bankruptcy court in an amount that he or she can afford, and the court then distributes the payment fairly to each creditor. Once the plan is approved by the court, the plan will be put in place even if all the creditors don’t agree.
We have helped many clients put together workable, affordable repayment plans that allow them to get out of debt, and at the same time eliminate the stress of unwanted communications and legal actions brought by creditors and collection agencies.
We’d like to help you too. Please contact us to schedule an appointment with me for a FREE initial consultation. During that first conference, I’ll discuss your situation with you in detail, and thoroughly explain your options. Don’t lose another night’s sleep worrying about debt. Contact me now!
Tagged as:
bankruptcy,
finance
Nearly every day I speak with clients who tell me they postponed coming in to see me for months – and sometimes years! – because they were afraid they would lose everything in a bankruptcy action.
The good news is that most of my clients don’t lose anything in the bankruptcy process. This is because the law provides that many of your assets are exempt, and cannot be taken from you to satisfy your creditors’ claims. Exempt assets which cannot be taken include your house, your car, your household goods and furniture, your computer, and, in most cases, all of your retirement funds.
If you are contemplating filing bankruptcy but are uncertain how it would affect the property you own, I can help. Contact me now to schedule a FREE confidential appointment.
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bankruptcy
In my last post I shared some ways to help you keep your legal costs down in a divorce. Here are a few more tips.
- Do your homework. Your legal action is a joint endeavor between you and your lawyer. You will be asked to document your income, property, and debts. The more information – and the more organized information – you give your lawyer, the less of the lawyer’s time is needed to understand and use it.
- Be truthful. Both parties to a divorce action have a legal duty to provide complete and accurate information about income, property, and debts. Give your lawyer complete and accurate information early in the process. This will save your lawyer’s time now and will avoid the time and complexity of correcting misinformation later. It will also keep you in good standing with the judge – you don’t want to appear to have been untruthful in one instance and raise the doubt that you are generally untruthful, perhaps turning the judge against you.
- Don’t waste time and money trying to punish your spouse. You may want to punish your spouse via the divorce. You can probably find a lawyer who is willing to spend his or her time and your money trying to help you do that. But in the end the court will be looking for a fair financial settlement and a parenting plan that is in the best interests of the children, not retribution against either party. So if you spend your money trying to punish your spouse, the only punishment you will receive will be loss of financial resources – your spouse’s and your own.
Let me help you navigate your divorce at the lowest possible cost. Contact us today to schedule a free half-hour consultation.
Tagged as:
divorce,
familylaw
This may be obvious, but what lawyers have to sell is their time. As an experienced divorce attorney (and formerly divorced person), I have some tips to pass along. You should end up with a fair result in your divorce case, but how much you pay for it will depend on the amount of time it takes to get there.
So, how can you save time and money and get the best possible result in your divorce?
- Don’t get hung up on your spouse’s misconduct. You may think the cause of your divorce is important to your case. Usually, it is not. Minnesota has “no-fault” divorce. All you have to “prove” to get divorced is that there has been an “irretrievable breakdown” of the marriage – and if one spouse says there has been, there has been. Marital misconduct is not supposed to affect financial issues like division of property and spousal maintenance. The only time misconduct affects custody or parenting time is if it truly hurts the children – like if a parent is neglecting the children or if a new boyfriend or girlfriend is an abuser. Sometimes people try to use evidence of marital misconduct to influence the judge; generally that is a waste of time and money. [read more…]
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divorce,
familylaw,
finance
Minnesota Law & Politics named the Lampe Law Group, along with Faegre & Benson, Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, and a handful of others, in its list of legal firms that have been in continual practice since the 19th century.
We’re proud to continue this long tradition of providing quality legal services, and we honor those who have gone before us in this work, from founder William Pattee to our firm’s namesake, Bob Lampe, who took over the practice in 1951.
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history
If you obtained a loan to purchase your car, chances are the company that lent you the money has a lien against the car. This means if you don’t make the payments, the lender can repossess your car. In bankruptcy proceedings, you can keep your car by signing a new agreement with the lender to continue making your car payments. This opportunity to renegotiate your car loan sometimes results in a lower interest rate, lower monthly payments, or a reduction in the principal balance due on the loan, especially in those cases where you owe more on your car than it is worth.
To find out what this could mean for you in your situation, call me (507) 663-1211 or email me to schedule a free confidential appointment.
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bankruptcy,
finance
There’s an old axiom that knowledge is power. That is particularly true for people who are experiencing financial difficulties. I know from counseling with hundreds of clients over the years that the stress and worry that comes with financial problems takes a huge toll on mental health, physical health, and relationships. The good news is that in nearly every case there are options available that can greatly reduce and even eliminate the anxiety that so often accompanies financial problems. You just need to know and understand what your options are.
Please let me help. Call (507) 663-1211 or email me to schedule a free confidential appointment. My clients all tell me that they are very happy they did so, and wondered why it took them so long to do it. Don’t wait any longer than you have to – please contact me today.
Tagged as:
bankruptcy
