St. Louis Bankruptcy Lawyers Blog

This is a possibility, but it is dependent upon the timing of when you filed your case, and which type of bankruptcy you filed.

There are two main types of consumer bankruptcies that an individual (or married couple) may file. And I will discuss each, and describe how a potential tax refund is affected by them. The first kind is the most common, which is a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In a Missouri Chapter 7, the court requires that you disclose all of your assets. And when the court requires you make it aware of all of your assets, it truly means that you disclose everything. This means all of your pots, pans, vehicles, furniture, bank accounts, stocks and bonds, retirement plans… literally everything.

Included in this list would be any anticipated funds or unliquidated funds that you might receive in the future. This would include things like money from a workman’s compensation claim, personal injury suit, medical malpractice suit, or an FDPCA claim. But it would also entail things like a potential tax refund.

There are a few situations in which someone would have to, or prefer instead, to file a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy. These situations may not apply to every person, but it is important to understand whether your particular circumstances would benefit from a Missouri Chapter 13. These circumstances will be described below.

To begin with, a Chapter 13 is described as a repayment plan over the course of three to five years, during which certain debts are paid back. These debts would include things like mortgage arrearage (i.e. what you have fallen behind on your house payments), car loans, tax debt, back child support, and usually a portion of your unsecured debt (like credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc). In addition, most (if not all) of your attorney fees would be paid through the plan as well.

The main type of situation in which someone would benefit greatly from Chapter 13 would be when there is a pending home foreclosure. Filing such a bankruptcy before the foreclosure sale date will stop the pending sale. In addition, a repayment plan will be created (over the course of three to four years) during which you would get caught up on the arrearage. This is a far better way of taking care of the back payments, instead of coming up with one lump sum. And it keeps your house safe, so that you can continue living comfortably with your family.

There really isn’t any timeframe for filing bankruptcy, although there a few particular situations that would probably require you to move more quickly towards filing a petition. But in general, there are no time limits for filing a St. Louis bankruptcy.

Some individuals will begin to look at the possibility of filing a Missouri bankruptcy well before they fall behind on their unsecured debts (things like credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc). They can “see the writing on the wall,” and recognize where they are likely to end up in the future (assuming things continue as they are). This type of situation typically involves a job loss, cut hours at work, an increase in monthly expenses, or some combination of all three.

On the other hand, there are those people who will wait a very long time before considering a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Not until the debts get turned over to a collection agency, and the phone calls start increasing every day, and the stress level goes through the roof. Only then will they pull the trigger, and start the process towards regaining control of their lives.

The easiest way in order to stop a foreclosure of your home is by filing a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy. This type of bankruptcy will stop the foreclosure from going through, and allows you to repay the arrearage over a period of time.

When you fall behind on your mortgage payments, eventually the bank or mortgage lender will turn your loan over to a law firm who will initiate the foreclosure process. This process will start with a series of letters letting you know that the loan is in default (and that you should not make anymore payments to the lender). The last piece of communication you will receive will be a foreclosure sale notice.

The notice of foreclosure will most likely come via certified mail (so you will have to go to the Post Office to pick it up). The letter/notice will let you know what your rights are, but will most importantly let you know when the foreclosure sale date is. This sale date will be about twenty (20) to thirty (30) days from the date of the letter.

A collection agency can legally call you, but only in certain situations (and only a certain number of times). For instance, a debt collector cannot legally call you on your cell phone, and it cannot call you more than once in one day. If any of these situations exist, you should know and understand what your rights are.

When a collection agency buys up an old debt, and it starts its collection activity (phone calls, letters, etc), it immediately becomes subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This federal law is very specific as to what constitutes a violation of your consumer rights, and the penalties therefor. The rules that are laid out within the act are clear and concise. But this does not stop most collectors from violating its provision.

For example, it is imperative that the debt collector identify itself as a collector each time it communicates with you. This could be when they call you, or when they send some sort of written communication. The easiest (and most common) way to make such an identification is to simply state the following: “This is an attempt to collect on a debt. This communication is from a debt collection agency.” So long as this kind of disclosure is made, then the collector has made you privy to its intent (i.e. to collect on a past due bill from you).

No, the Bankruptcy Trustee (who is an officer of the court) will not necessarily take all of your money from your accounts. This scenario would only play out if you had a great deal of money in an account on the date of filing a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy. But there are certainly ways of avoiding such an outcome.

When you file a St. Louis bankruptcy, the Bankruptcy Court will require that you disclose all of your assets, belongings, and property (both real and personal). Disclosing your assets does not mean that you lose them (in other words, just because the court asks you to draw up a list of everything that you own that does not mean it is going to turn around and take those items from you). Included on this list of assets are your bank accounts (checking, savings, money market, etc).

In the case of a Missouri Chapter 7, if in fact you have a substantial amount in your bank accounts, the Trustee may demand that you turn this over. The Trustee would then use those funds to pay towards the unsecured creditors (credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc) that are subject to discharge. But this is only if in fact your accounts have substantial amounts on the date of filing.

No, it is not necessary that you file jointly with your spouse if you decide to do a St. Louis bankruptcy. You and your spouse would of course have that option, but it is not mandatory that you file together.

The filing of a Missouri bankruptcy is a very personal decision that is sometimes very difficult to make. A number of considerations are taken into account, not the least of which having to do with the total amount of debt that you are currently carrying. In some situations, a married couple will have debt that is separate. In other words, debt that the other person is not legally obligated on.

A good example is credit card debt. Frequently, a spouse will have lines of credit, but the debt is only in the husband or wife’s name (and therefore, there is no joint ownership of the debt in question). This means that the creditor can only seek payment from the party with whom it actually has a contract. This would also be the case for medical bills. If medical services are incurred by an individual, the hospital or doctor may not seek payment from the patient’s spouse.

No, filing a St. Louis bankruptcy does not mean that you will automatically lose everything you own (including the shirt off your back). But there are many precautions that need to be in place first. Because in certain situations, it is in fact possible to lose something you wish to keep (but a good attorney can make sure that that does not happen).

When you file a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy, it is necessary to disclose (i.e. make the court aware of) all of your real and personal property. This would include things like real estate, rental properties, time shares, and farmland. Also things like books, clothes, furniture, appliances, and sporting equipment need to be listed. And even items like bank accounts, money market accounts, stocks and bonds, retirement accounts, any outstanding accounts receivable, or pending lawsuits in which you may receive money. But please keep in mind, just because you have a duty to make the court aware of all the things own (or have an ownership interest in), this does not mean that you will have to give any of these items up.

This is because for each piece of property you own, there is usually a state exemption that corresponds to the item. For instance, your household good and furniture (which would include pots, pans, appliances, beds, dressers, etc.) are exempted up to $3,000 in value. That may not seem like a lot, but the value that is used is not actual value, but “garage sale” value. Garage sale value is much less than actual or resale value. Once you apply a garage sale value to the household goods, most people find that the $3,000 exemption is more than enough to cover their things.