The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that retirement funds rolled over from an Individual Retirement Account to purchase an annuity are exempt from the bankruptcy estate. In re Miller (No. 13-3682). Prior to filing bankruptcy, Joseph Miller, rolled over $267,319 from his IRA account to purchase an annuity contract from Minnesota Life
I had the pleasure of attending the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys seminar held at the Nebraska College of Law a week ago, and it got me thinking about how much trial attorneys need to understand about the bankruptcy process. In a nutshell, here are seven things every trial attorney should understand about bankruptcy.
1. Injury
It costs a lot of money to go broke, literally. Chapter 7 fees vary from case to case, but the average case filed in Nebraska ranges from $1,200 to $1,500 depending on the complexity of the case and the attorney hired. Clients frequently ask if their case can be filed before all fees are paid.
Charlie was a bad man. With his aggressive personality he intimidated and threatened others if they didn’t give into what he demanded. He grew rich on the work of others and reminded everyone that without him they were nothing, but such men are destined to fail because they never have enough and so they continuously
Across the State of Nebraska, you could have heard a collective groan of debtor attorneys as the Nebraska Bankruptcy Court issued a new ruling limiting the ability of debtors to avoid liens in motor vehicles. In the case of In re Cardwell, the Court ruled that a debtor may not utilize the “Tool of
Whether a business is incorporated or not can have a dramatic impact on the outcome of a bankruptcy case, especially in Chapter 7 cases where the bankruptcy trustee has the power to sell non-exempt assets. Successfully filing a business bankruptcy in Nebraska depends on understanding the important difference between incorporated and unincorporated business assets.
Let’s
I get this complaint all the time: “My mortgage company is not reporting that I am paying my mortgage payment on time each month because I did not reaffirm their loan.”
Reaffirmation Agreements are documents that are signed in Chapter 7 with creditors for debts you want to keep. This is typically a home
A new court opinion issued by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals declares that alimony is part of the bankruptcy estate and can be liquidated by the Chapter 7 Trustee unless a specific state exemption protecting the alimony award exists. In re Mehlhaff, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 944 (Bankr. D.S.D., Mar. 12, 2013).
In a few weeks taxpayers will begin filing their 2012 tax returns, and for those taxpayers who are also filing bankruptcy at the same time a large number of them will forfeit the refund to the Chapter 7 Trustee. For nearly 20 years I have witnessed the Chapter 7 Trustee seize tax refunds from unsuspecting debtors.
I had coffee with a great friend of mine who began his own bankruptcy practice a few years ago. He explained that he recently acquired a very difficult case involving a debtor with a high paying job and he expected a brutal Chapter 13 confirmation process—i.e, he expected the Trustee to demand a significant monthly