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When you are watching every penny, you sit at home and make financial calculations in your mind while other people are out engaging in leisure pursuits, or so the influencers on YouTube would have you believe, then you try to spend your free time on income-generating activities, or at least on doing things that do…

If you are bummed out about the fact that everyone in California has been in a foul mood for as long as you can remember, count your blessings. Try driving a few states east to Utah or Texas, where the older generations have managed to impress upon their daughters, even in these turbulent times, that…

In a perfect world, no one would need to use credit cards, but a perfect world is so far away that you have already maxed out one credit card with grocery purchases and other expenses that no one would consider luxuries, and now you are running up the balance on at least one other card.…

How bad your finances are is, at least partially, a matter of perspective. Sure, you don’t have any money left at the end of the month to put into savings. If you are so optimistic that you transfer a percentage of your paycheck into savings every payday, then you end up transferring it back into…

After introductory quotes from texts in Latin, Classical Greek, and Italian, T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Wasteland” begins, “April is the cruellest month.” It is true that April is not especially cuddly, but all of the months are cruel these days. It is as if the financial death toll of the Christmas holidays never ends. Chances…

To file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you must fall within certain income guidelines. In California, you must earn less than the median state income for a household of your size. This is a key component to qualifying for Chapter 7, which may allow you to discharge certain debts. Filing for bankruptcy can provide a great…

On March 4, 2014, Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the Supreme Court’s opinion in Law v. Siegel, originally a bankruptcy case from the Central District of California. The Supreme Court’s decision unanimously reversed the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. This case is particularly interesting because it involves issues of fraud and property exemptions…

For those without legal training, understanding the court system in the United States can be difficult. There are both state courts and federal courts, and each court system is comprised of many different levels of courts. Although bankruptcy filings are dealt with entirely in federal courts, the bankruptcy court system has several aspects that are…

Unlike Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, which liquidates most of a debtor’s assets in a relatively short period of time, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy allows a debtor to keep many of their assets if they are able to make payments on their debt over a period of time. This is called the Chapter 13 Payment Plan, and there…

Using the Wildcard Exemption in Your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is sometimes called a “liquidation bankruptcy.” This is because Chapter 7 Bankruptcy liquidates all of a debtor’s nonexempt assets in order to pay as much of their debts as possible. However, this term can be somewhat misleading in that not all of…

Consumer Debts vs Non-Consumer Debts There are many different types of debts in bankruptcy. Often the difference between whether a debt is secured or unsecured can be the difference between whether a person is able to get rid of that debt in bankruptcy. Another distinction which is particularly important in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is the…

Ninth Circuit Rules Often the focus in bankruptcy is on debt; however, persons considering filing for bankruptcy should also keep in mind any possible sources of income. Because the bankruptcy process can take several months or even years, it is possible for the debtor to come by unexpected sums of money, such as an inheritance.…

For most people who are not bankruptcy lawyers, bankruptcy is an unknown, complicated process filled with technical jargon and legal rules. Understanding some of the terms used in bankruptcy can make the process less intimidating. This post addresses important terminology surrounding some of the documents that are at the core of the bankruptcy process –…

One of the most common ways for people to get into financial trouble is by accumulating too much credit card debt. Credit card debt can result from unexpected necessary expenditures, such as medical bills or car repairs, or it can be the result of poor credit management. This year’s State of Credit Report by the…

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Applies Narrow Interpretation Chapter 7 Bankruptcy can help debtors to reduce their debt by discharging unsecured debts. An unsecured debt is a debt that does not have an accompanying interest in property. However, certain types of unsecured debts, such as domestic support obligations and payments to former spouses, are exempt…