Bankruptcy Information

“Homestead accounts” come up on may of my asset protection meetings. To review, a so-called homestead accounts refers to bank accounts containing exclusively proceeds from the sale of an exempt homestead property. Courts have exempted this money from creditors if, and to the extent,  the money is intended to be reinvested in a new homestead. The definition of homestead account leads to many questions about how long the money is protected and what things the debtor must do to ensure protection. The most frequent question involves time: for how long will a homestead account be afforded exempt status?

I read a  bankruptcy case from the Tallahassee Division which  provides explanation by example. The bankruptcy court exempted money in a homestead account 13 months after the debtor sold his former homestead. Thirteen months seems like a long time to replace a home. But, the court noted that during this time period the debtor looked seriously at 6-12 houses and made written offers on three houses, none of which resulted in a purchase. The of

Read full post…

Tags: Exempt, Homestead Account

     A Chapter 13 bankruptcy debtor may deduct the full IRS Standards vehicle allowance even though the actual payment may be less,  per a decision by Bankruptcy Judge Laura Grandy in the Southern District of Illinois case of In re Scott, 10-32582 (August 8, 2011).

     When the Supreme Court ruled in Ransom v. FIA Card Services, 131 S. Ct. 716, 723-24 (2011) that an over median income debtor could not take an I.R.S. Standards Ownership Cost deduction against Disposable Income, (11 U.S.C. 1325(b)(1)(b)), for a vehicle if the debtor did not have an “applicable” vehicle payment, the Supreme Court refused to indicate whether a debtor could take the full amount of that deduction if the actual vehicle payment was less than the amount of the I.R.S. Standards. 

Read full post…

Tags: Chapter, Chapter 13

This week on The Broke and the Beautiful, “Real Housewives” invade the news, Stan Lee Media wants all the action on Conan the Barbarian, and Lenny Dykstra gets battered with indecent-exposure charges.

Teresa and Joe Giudice are broadcasting their bankruptcy news all over Bravo’s “Real Housewives of New Jersey.” According to the Star-Ledger, Teresa noted in an interview on Sunday’s episode that her husband’s former business partner wants $260,000 because Joe forged his signature, saying, “You just can’t trust anyone anymore.” Though Teresa isn’t liable, Joe’s on the hook for the money. “So in other words, never tell the truth,” Joe told his lawyer. Teresa’s conclusion? “You gotta lie!”

Tareq and Michaele Salahi may have ended up in the New York Times style section earlier this month, but the infamous 2009 White House partiers crashed into the news in a different way this week. The assets of the Salahis’ winery, which filed for bankruptcy in December 2008, are hitting the auction block, Bankruptcy Beat reported. The winery, which claims to be rate

Read full post…

Tags: Beautiful, Beautiful ‘you

In the year ending June 2011, the total number of bankruptcies filed in the United States decreased by 2.7 percent, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

The office also reported decreases in the different chapters of bankruptcy from the year ending June 2010 to the year ending June 2011.  Chapter 11 bankruptcies decreased by 11 percent, Chapter 12 bankruptcies decreased by 9 percent, Chapter 13 bankruptcies decreased by 2 percent, and Chapter 7 bankruptcies decreased by 4 percent.

19 out of 94 districts across the U.S. reported increases in bankruptcy filings.  For example, the Southern District of Florida experienced a 15 percent increase in total bankruptcy filings in the year ending June 2011.

Tags: 2011, Ending June, Ending June 2011, June 2011

The Time is Right: With the Fed lowering interest rates and setting a good tone to the markets along with earnings season coming up next month, there has never been a better time to learn to read price charts to pinpoint the best entries and exits for your trades.

When you know how to correctly read price and candle patterns you can identify the beginning of the next big wave and the most profitable entry for your trades. The price graph will also give you clues about when that wave is slowing down so you have time to tighten your stops and maximize your returns.

The markets today are providing us with great trading opportunities. The positive reaction to the interest rate news sent stocks skyrocketing, which made for some wonderful trades if you positioned in early. Many of those stocks, however, are due for a pullback. And what a perfect time to be trading because once you learn to identify the typical pullback, or retracement patterns, you can use those to enter trades before the next big run into earnings.

Here’s An Example:

A pattern that we usually see before a stock makes a run into earnings is a rectangle. A

Read full post…