Kentucky Bankruptcy Legal Questions

Your case would become an asset in the bankruptcy estate.  Any recovery could be collected by the bankruptcy trustee, absent any exemptions.  You should contact a local bankruptcy attorney to determine what exemptions you would have available to preserve the largest lawsuit damages recovery possible. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

Barring exceptional circumstances, taxes cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy.  You should contact a local bankruptcy attorney to determine if your situation would allow a discharge of back taxes. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

I don't really understand your facts.  If you filed a personal bankruptcy case and received a discharge, then that discharged you from the obligation to pay on any debts you hold personally.  It doesn't affect any liabilities owed by any other entity, including separate corporation (you don't state whether your "business" is a corporation or not, but I'm assuming it is). Similarly, if you filed a bankruptcy for a corporation, it would not affect the liabilities that you have personally. If your business owes debts it cannot pay and you wish to remain in business, the business should consider filing a Chapter 11 case (again, I'm assuming this "business" is a corporation). Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://www.bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr... Read More

The Schedule H in a chapter 7 bankruptcy filing is for code debtors and for spouses living within a community property state in the past eight years. This would mean that you should list your ex-husband under the debt associated with your home mortgage in Kentucky. You cannot list your ex-husband for any debts that he was not a cosigner or codebtor on, simply because he spent the money, if his name is not on the account he is not technically a codebtor. In a chapter 7 bankruptcy filing codebtor's and cosigners are people who have their name listed on the account as liable for the debt and does not have anything to do with who actually spends the money. I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where I practice. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.   Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO & ASSOCIATES, LLCAttorneys At Law www.massachusettslawyeronline.com 126 Shove Street Unit 202 Fall River, MA 02724 Office: 888-269-0688Cell: 508-801-6747FAX: 877-475-8147 Twitter Facebook  ... Read More

Unless there was a need to file ch 13, ch 7 is usually better. KY allows the federal exemptions so, depending upon the actual value of the residence, and if you are filing jointly with your spouse, you may be able to exempt the real estate.  Depending upon the amount owed on the car, it could be exempt.  If you are not going to keep the real estate, you have exemption under 523 d 3 and d 5 to exempt the car.  The reaffirmation is not relevant to what your basic issue is.  You would be better off on hiring a lawyer to go through this with you.  It will probably be worth every cent and more.... Read More

If you received a discharge of your debts, and did not reaffirm any debts with the credit union, then they cannot take any money you deposit into their account after your bankruptcy case was filed. Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr... Read More

This asset is property of the estate.  Back taxes may be nondischargeable, and priority claims, so it is not a bad thing to that extent.  I assume by the $12,000, you are referring to the wildcard using the Federal exemptions, which are available in Kentucky.  You should talk to your bankruptcy lawyer, this is something they should help you with.... Read More

A married couple has the option to file bankruptcy jointly, where both individiauls file for bankruptcy protection, or an individual spouse has the option to file independently.  If you choose to independently file, the other spouse may choose to also file independently, or not file at all.  If you choose to independently file without your spouse filing, he/she would not have an impact on his/her credit report for debts not jointly owned between the two spouses.  However, if you jointly own debt or property, including a home, then it may indirectly impact the non-filing spouse's credit or ownership rights in property.  This is due to the fact that joint debts and ownership in property may cause the non-filing spouse to become liable for all the debt after the bankruptcy filing.   For a good discussion on the benefits and problems associated with filing bankruptcy jointly visit: http://thismatter.com/money/credit/bankruptcy/joint-petitions.htm For more information on bankruptcy visit my website at www.alsobrooklaw.com. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.  ... Read More

There isn't enough information to answer your question.  How was the house transferred?  Was it by quitclaim deed, or did your daughter pay you for it?  Were you insolvent at the time you made the transfer (i.e. did you owe more debts than you had assets to pay)?  If so, then that is the textbook definition of a fraudulent transfer.  How long a creditor has to bring an action for the value of the transfer depends on the laws of the state in which it took place.  Most states are 4 years, but there are different ones. Your bankruptcy attorney should be able to answer these questions for you, and if not, you should probably find a different attorney.   Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr ... Read More

Well, the responsible party is usually the creditor, since reaffirmation agreements primarily benefit them.  It certainly wouldn't be your attorney's responsibility unless you contracted with him to represent you in the reaffirmation proceedings AND to prepare and file the reaffirmation agreement. More importantly, there is virtually no reason to ever reaffirm a mortgage.  The only slight benefit you would get from doing so would be that the future on-time payments might help your credit score somewhat.  On the other hand, it would obligate you for the full balance on the loan and turn what might have been a non-recourse loan into a recourse loan (meaning that if in the future they foreclose and there is still money owing to them after the foreclosure, you're liable for that and your bankruptcy discharge will not have eliminated that obligation).  In any event, your discharge has already entered so you cannot reaffirm your mortgage now. Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr ... Read More

No, the spouse can file bankruptcy by him/herself.  If you live in a community property state, then the non-filing spouse will be protected by the discharge even for debts the non-filing spouse owes (unless that non-filing spouse has separate property assets).  I have no idea what kind of laws Kentucky has so you should consult with an attorney there, but there's no reason for you both to file that I can see.   Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr ... Read More

You can file a Chapter 13 case any time.  If you want to receive a discharge in the Chapter 13, it must be filed at least 4 years after a prior Chapter 7 case was filed in which you received a discharge. Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr ... Read More

The house you inherited has nothing to do with the house being foreclosed on, or any other assets you have.  It also does not matter how they were acquired (i.e. via inheritance, purchase, or whatever)  They are all assets you own on the date you file your bankruptcy case (except for the one foreclosed on) and may or may not be "affected" depending on their value, amount of equity in them, which bankruptcy chapter you file,  and what exemptions you have available to you under applicable laws. Exemptions are "protections" for value you have in certain assets such that they are "exempt" from collections.  Every state has different exemptions amounts available. Exemption laws are based on the state where you resided for the 2 years prior to filing your bankruptcy case or, if you lived in more than 1 state during that period, in the state where you resided for the greater part of the 180 days prior to that 2 year period. You need to consult with a bankruptcy attorney in your area to fully analyze your options and risks. Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr  ... Read More

The answer to your question depends on several factors, including whether you are eligible to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but if you are eligible for Chapter 7, then as long as you are current on your house and car payments, you can choose to only eliminate your unsecured debts (credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, etc). However, if you are not current on your house and car payments, you will be required to either file Chapter 13 to keep those or surrender them in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You should speak with an attorney in your area so that they can review your case in more detail to determine which type of bankruptcy is best for you.Terry Duncan Charlotte, NC Bankruptcy Lawyer... Read More

Generally speaking, you do not have to sell property to pay debts in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. In bankruptcy you have both federal and state exemptions that protect different types of property. If your property can be fully protected by using those exemptions then you will not have to sell or pay any additional money to creditors because of these assets. However, if you have too much equity in property and you cannot protect it all, you may be required to either surrender that property (in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy) or pay the non-exempt equity amount back in your Chapter 13 bankruptcy. In other words, in a Chapter 13 you don't have to give up that property but it may make your monthly Chapter 13 payments higher than they otherwise would be. By contacting an experienced attorney they will help guide you and ensure that you use exemptions properly to protect as much property as possible and, in turn, save you as much money as possible. Terry Duncan Charlotte, NC Bankruptcy Lawyer... Read More