If you receive an inheritance, what does the bankruptcy law say about it? More specifically, if you are given an inheritance after you file for bankruptcy what happens to it? The bankruptcy code has different ways of treating your inheritance depending on which chapter of bankruptcy you file under.
If you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, what happens to the inheritance depends on when the person who gave it to you passed away. If the death of the testator occurred within 180 days prior to your bankruptcy filing, the inheritance you received will form part of your bankruptcy estate and will have to be handed over to the bankruptcy trustee who will use it to pay your creditors. If the testator passed away more than 180 days before you filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, then the inheritance is yours to keep.
Note that the 180 days is counted from the date of death of the person who gave you the inheritance, not the date you received the inheritance. For example, if your distant relative gave you $1 million in his will, and you received it only 1 year after he died, the money will become part of the assets in your bankruptcy if the death occurred within 180 days prior to your bankruptcy filing.
On the other hand, if you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the 180 day limit does not apply. As long as your bankruptcy is still ongoing, the inheritance will form part of your bankruptcy estate and will be used to calculate how much you should repay your creditors. So in the example above, regardless of when you received the inheritance, as long as your debts in bankruptcy have not been discharged, your inheritance is taken into account to calculate your repayment amount.
If you wish to file for bankruptcy to overcome your debt problems, call us at (813) 200 4133 for a free consultation.
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Filed under Chapter 7 (Tampa) by on May 21st, 2012. Comment. 
If you are a married couple thinking of filing a bankruptcy petition, there are some considerations you should bear in mind before doing so. You may opt either to file a petition jointly as a couple or separately as individuals. If that is the case, which is more advantageous? It usually depends on how your debts are structured.
If most of your debts are in joint names, it makes more sense to file a joint petition for bankruptcy protection. But if your debts are incurred separately, filing individually would make more sense, since your creditors would have accounts with your separately.
Another consideration you should think about is the type of bankruptcy to file under. If you file for a separate Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the filing may not protect your spouse from being contacted by creditors. Chapter 7 bankruptcy brings along an automatic stay on creditors that prevents them from contacting you for payment but it may not protect your non-filing spouse from creditor actions. On the other hand, filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy may entail co-debtor protection while the petition is ongoing.
There are many types of debts that may be in joint names such as credit card debts. These debts can be cleared through a joint bankruptcy filing. A joint filing may also save you money since you will only be charged for one filing.
If you and your spouse are headed for a divorce, you may want to consider filing bankruptcy separately. This would help make things easier when it comes to distribution of assets and debts later. A bankruptcy filing may carry different implications depending on which state you reside in. If you file in a community property state, it is possible for bankruptcy laws to protect the non-filing spouse.
If you wish to discuss your financial situation and explore the possibility of bankruptcy as a way to wipe your slate clean of all your debts, call us at (813) 200 4133 for a free consultation.
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Filed under Chapter 7 (Tampa) by on May 15th, 2012. Comment.
Credit and Financial Management Courses in Bankruptcy
As a prerequisite for filing for bankruptcy, you have to take up a course that gives you credit counseling. This applies to both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Once you complete this credit counseling class, you would be allowed to file your bankruptcy petition. After filing for bankruptcy, there is another course that you are obligated to take. It is a course on financial management. This is a prerequisite for receiving your discharge through bankruptcy and must be taken within the first 45 days of filing for bankruptcy.
The purpose of the financial management course is threefold:
1. The enlighten you on the benefits of creating short-term and long-term financial goals
2. To guide you on how to draw up a budget
3. To give you practical instructions on how to balance a checkbook and reconcile bank statements
Both these courses are designed to improve your financial knowledge and skills and help you avoid having to file for another bankruptcy in future. There is usually a list of centers approved by the US government you can register with to take up these two courses. Consult your bankruptcy attorney on where and how you can take these two mandatory courses. Failing to take up the course on financial management would likely result in your bankruptcy case being closed.
After you file for bankruptcy, there are often many things to attend to and you may inadvertently forget to attend the financial management course by the 45 day deadline. If that happens, you should check with your bankruptcy attorney or trustee to find out if your case has been closed. If it has not, it is not too late to attend the course. You will be awarded a certificate upon successful completion of the course, which you need to file with the bankruptcy court.
However, if your bankruptcy case has been closed, you should appeal to the judge to reopen the case for the purpose of filing the Financial Management course certificate. Most judges would allow you to do so. But you do need to pay a fee to reopen your case, which is about $200. But this fee would be worth it if you can have your qualified debts discharged through bankruptcy.
If you wish to file for bankruptcy, call us at (813) 200 4133 for a free consultation. Bankruptcy is your right under the law and is a provision for you to have your qualified financial debts discharged, thereby enabling you to have a fresh start financially.
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Filed under Chapter 7 (Tampa) by on May 10th, 2012. Comment.
Once you file for bankruptcy protection, an automatic stay on all collection efforts by creditors comes into immediate effect. This gives you the opportunity to proceed with the bankruptcy process without disturbance or distraction from creditors. But there are a few exceptions to the automatic stay rule such as collection efforts arising from a criminal case, collection for child support, student loans and certain taxes. Automatic stay is also not applicable for debts you incur after filing for bankruptcy. Other than these, by and large all creditors must abide by the automatic stay rule and cease collection efforts during your bankruptcy.
What should you do if one or more creditors violate this rule? Now if the creditor(s) are not aware of your bankruptcy filing, then you should instruct your bankruptcy attorney or trustee to inform him or her of it. This should stop all forms of collection efforts by these creditors. If collection efforts still persist, you ought to inform the bankruptcy court.
The bankruptcy court will reprove the creditor(s) violating automatic stay with a court order and impose a fine on the creditor(s).
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Filed under Chapter 7 (Tampa) by on May 7th, 2012. Comment.
Identity theft is an ongoing scourge in our society that does not seem likely to disappear in the near future. While more stringent efforts are constantly made to prevent and prosecute identity theft cases, the menace remains especially with the popularity of online financial transactions of all sorts. When your identity is stolen, it would inevitably lead to a tremendous amount of debt in a short space of time. So if you have been a victim of identity theft, what can you do about it? One good option is to file for bankruptcy protection.
A bankruptcy filing will bring about an immediate automatic stay on all your creditors. The bankruptcy court will order a freeze on all collection efforts against you, meaning No creditor will be allowed to pursue the debt you “owe” them. This will give you the time you need to deal with the theft with the relevant authorities.
All cases of identity theft must be reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the US Trustee Office. These authorities will work hard to nab the perpetrator of the crime. At the same time, if you file for bankruptcy protection, you will be given special consideration by the bankruptcy court because the debts in your name are not bona fide. The court will protect your interests and reason with the creditors on your behalf. This will buy you the time you need to sort things out with credit bureaus in relation to any fraudulent charges made, thereby reducing the amount of debts that are discharged under your bankruptcy.
So declaring bankruptcy is one of the best ways to get creditors off your back while at the same time protecting your credit score. Every year, millions of Americans have their identities stolen and Florida is among the states with the highest incident of identity thefts in the country. The average amount of debt accumulated in identity theft cases is $5,270.
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Filed under Chapter 7 (Tampa) by on Apr 26th, 2012. Comment.
