Trailer Estates, FL Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

Although bankruptcy laws do not require someone to have a certain amount of debt, it just makes sense to only consider bankruptcy when it will do you some good and you get the biggest "bang for your buck." After all, you are only eligible to file bankruptcy once every eight years. Student loans cannot usually be eliminated in bankruptcy unless the borrower has a serious disability so exclude that from your total debt. What does that leave in debt? Would you be able to pay 1/4 of the balance of your debts over 60 months? Assuming that you still had $10,000 in debts, could you pay $2,500 off in 60 months. That works out to less than $42/month. Kind of hard to make an argument that someone couldn't pay that by tightening their belt. With this argument, the US Trustee could argue that the bankruptcy is not "in good faith." My criteria is to have my clients owe at least 50% of their annual income in debt that can be eliminated through bankruptcy. Otherwise, I want to consider other options. I have seen too many people who have eliminated a small amount of debt in bankruptcy (with someone else) only to have overwhelming medical debts or other problems a year or so down the road and be ineligible to get rid of debt that is truly overwhelming.

That refund is part of your bankruptcy estate, and part of it is not yours. If the trustee demands it you must give it. Recognizing that you would not receive it for many months and that the refund will be comprised of both pre-petition and post-petition contributions, there is a real issue as to how much the trustee would be entitled to. Talk with the trustee about it, or better yet the attorney who filed the bkr for you.

There is no minimum debt requirement to file bankruptcy. However, a debtor is not entitled to a discharge if the debtor has been granted a discharge in a prior chapter 7 or chapter 11 case commenced within 8 years before the date of filing the new bankruptcy petition or, in situations involving a discharge in a prior chapter 13 case, within 6 years before the date of filing the new bankruptcy petition. We therefore counsel our clients to attempt to refrain from filing bankruptcy, especially in situations where the debt is small, unless there is no other option.