The Bankruptcy Blog

Navigating Bankruptcy and Disability Benefits: What You Need to Know

Navigating Bankruptcy and Disability Benefits: What You Need to Know

Facing financial hardship while dealing with a disability can be an overwhelming and challenging experience If you are a recipient of disability benefits and considering bankruptcy in these states, it’s essential to understand how these two aspects interact within bankruptcy law, both in Nebraska and Iowa.  Understanding Disability Benefits In both Nebraska and Iowa, disability…

Chapter 7 Document Checklist

Chapter 7 Document Checklist

Before filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you need to gather several documents for your attorney. These documents help your attorney analyze your situation and prepare a bankruptcy petition for you. This checklist provides an overview of the type of information needed. Paperwork Needed to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Income record A complete income record for…

What is an Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy?

What is an Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy?

An Automatic Stay in bankruptcy is the most powerful part of bankruptcy law.  What does the word “Stay” mean in bankruptcy? In short, it means almost all efforts to collect a debt, including garnishments, foreclosures, repossessions, lawsuits, or anything else even remotely associated with an attempt to take away your property, MUST automatically stop until further…

What is the 341 Meeting Of Creditors?

What is the 341 Meeting Of Creditors?

All bankruptcy filings require that the Debtor and, if applicable, the Debtor’s spouse, attend a hearing about thirty days after the case is filed. In the bankruptcy world, this is commonly referred to as the “341 hearing” because such a hearing is required by federal law as is found at 11 U.S.C. § 341 (a)….

Filing Bankruptcy vs. Debt Consolidation

Filing Bankruptcy vs. Debt Consolidation

What is Debt Consolidation? Debt consolidation sounds great and is a good way to handle a minor to moderate cash flow problem. When too many monthly bills come due and it is a struggle to pay all of them on time, one of the first logical thoughts is to get one new, larger loan and pay…

How to Calculate Your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Payment

How to Calculate Your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Payment

Most chapter 13 debtors do not have to pay all of their debts in full through their bankruptcy. But each person’s situation is different. To determine how much you would have to pay depends on several factors, like the types of debts you have and how much money you make. The Minimum Amount Chapter 13…

Child Support Debt and Bankruptcy

Child Support Debt and Bankruptcy

If you owe child support, a bankruptcy will not change your obligation to pay the child support, and it will not discharge any delinquent amounts owed. That does not mean, however, that your other debts cannot be discharged. What is Priority Debt? Child support, or any other domestic support, is considered a “priority” debt in…

What is a Bankruptcy Discharge?

What is a Bankruptcy Discharge?

The definition, according to the Webster Dictionary, is “to end the service of (someone) in a formal or official way.” According to the Black’s Law Dictionary, a discharge is “any method by which a legal duty is extinguished; esp., the payment of a debt or satisfaction of some other obligation.” In Bankruptcy, a discharge is…

What is an Emergency Bankruptcy Filing?

What is an Emergency Bankruptcy Filing?

An emergency bankruptcy is just like it sounds – something financially urgent and of an emergency nature comes up and fast action needs to be done to stop it or very bad things could or will happen. While bankruptcy is ideally something that is well researched and contemplated before filing, that is not the way…

Will Filing Bankruptcy Stop a Garnishment?

Will Filing Bankruptcy Stop a Garnishment?

If you have ever experienced a wage garnishment or bank garnishment, you know how scary and panic-inducing it can be.  You may already be living on a tight budget, but with funds now coming out of your paycheck or bank account, you may find yourself struggling to meet your and your family’s basic living expenses….

What You Need to Know About Bankruptcy Exemptions

What You Need to Know About Bankruptcy Exemptions

Bankruptcy exemptions are laws that allow you to protect certain property when you file a bankruptcy. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, exemption laws determine what property you can keep. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, exemption laws may be a factor in determining how much you have to pay back to your unsecured creditors. Most exemptions…

Can You File Bankruptcy Twice?

Can You File Bankruptcy Twice?

Yes, you can file bankruptcy twice, however, if you want to receive a discharge of your debts in a subsequent bankruptcy, you must wait a certain period of time. How long you have to wait depends on the chapter of bankruptcy you previously filed and the chapter you want to file in the future. Timeframes…

Bankruptcy in the Gig Economy

Bankruptcy in the Gig Economy

The gig economy is something very unique, exciting, and freeing. It liberates regular people from the restrictions of corporate America and the hourly constraints of a “regular” job. In essence, the gig economy is a platform for a type of self-employment, be it big or small. It has the potential to unleash the American spirit…

Debt Settlement vs. Bankruptcy

Debt Settlement vs. Bankruptcy

A lot has been written about the virtues and benefits of debt settlement vs. bankruptcy to deal with unmanageable debt. As a bankruptcy attorney serving clients in Omaha, Nebraska for 31 years, I’ve participated in helping lots of people permanently fix their debt problems. I know how things play out in the legal system and…

What is the Bankruptcy “Means Test”?

What is the Bankruptcy “Means Test”?

As a bankruptcy attorney in Omaha, I frequently get questions about the “Means Test” by people who have spent a considerable amount of time on the Internet.  I actually really enjoy these technical questions because we can jump right into the little nuances of the bankruptcy means test and how it works in the real…

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy: A Very Powerful Legal Tool

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy: A Very Powerful Legal Tool

Most people, including attorneys, do not fully grasp the power of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  It is quite amazing how so many problems can be handled with such bankruptcy. Nothing else even comes close; not a Chapter 7 bankruptcy nor a Chapter 11 proceeding. The reason a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is so powerful lies in…

What is the Foreclosure Process in Nebraska?

What is the Foreclosure Process in Nebraska?

For better or worse, Nebraska allows mortgage companies, banks, and other lien holders to foreclose on real property without a court proceeding. The authority that provides for non-judicial “mortgage” loans is found at Neb. Rev. St. § 76-1018 et seq. and is commonly referred to as the Nebraska Trust Deeds Act. This Act allows lenders…