5 Tips for Chapter 13 Success
The District of Minnesota has one of the highest rates of discharge for clients that file a chapter 13 in the country. So you are already off to a good start in a district that tries to see clients succeed and eliminate barriers to their success. With that, a chapter 13 isn’t an easy journey […]
Getting Started: Meeting With An Attorney
If you’ve reached the point where you know you have to talk with someone about your money issues, the next step is to set up a time to speak with an attorney who practices bankruptcy law. At Kain + Henehan, you can have that meeting several different ways. You can meet in person. You can […]
Re-negotiating Your Car Loan in Ch. 13
Chapter 13 bankruptcy offers some real advantages for debtors who are concerned that if they file a bankruptcy case, either the bankruptcy trustee will be able to take their car away from them because it might not be exempt, or that the car lender will ultimately repossess the car because the payments are difficult to […]
The Steps In A Chapter 7 Case
If you think you might need to file a bankruptcy case, and it turns out that you choose to file a chapter 7, what are the steps in the bankruptcy process? If you have Bill or Margaret at Kain + Henehan represent you, here’s what you can expect. First meeting – facts, law and a […]
Will I Lose My Car?
I wrote an earlier post about the concern clients have that if they file bankruptcy they will put their home ownership at risk. And the answer is that due to the generous ($450,000) exemption for homestead real estate in Minnesota state law, I’ve never had a client who risked losing their home to a bankruptcy […]
How Can I Save My House?
I wrote an earlier post discussing how the equity in homestead real estate is almost always exempt (protected from seizure by bankruptcy trustees) in Minnesota bankruptcy cases. But protecting your house from the trustee is one thing; the person with money problems who has fallen behind on house payments has another concern. When there is […]
Fighting Human Nature
The stress that goes along with financial trouble can lead people to make perfectly-understandable payment decisions that can backfire if the person who pays ends up filing a bankruptcy case. Here’s a common scenario: someone with debt problems needs to make significant payments to keep his creditors pacified. Unfortunately, the credit score isn’t good (and […]
Bankruptcy and the New Child Tax Credit – What You Need to Know
What is the New Child Tax Credit: We are days away from a new Child Tax Credit that is being rolled out to help ease families still struggling coming off the pandemic. These payments are part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and they serve as an advance on the Child Tax Credit […]
How Can We Meet?
The days of only having one way to meet with an attorney were over before the pandemic changed our lives – but Covid-19 certainly accelerated the transition that is our new normal: it’s not required to have a face-to-face conference with a lawyer in order to start the bankruptcy process. At Kain + Henehan, there […]
The 2 Bankruptcy Concepts
TWO FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS Most bankruptcy law can be distilled down to two fundamental concepts. The purpose of bankruptcy law is to treat creditors fairly and to allow debtors to live with dignity. Fair Treatment of Creditors. Several provisions in the bankruptcy code are designed to advance the policy of treating creditors fairly. One way this is […]