Miami Bankruptcy Attorney Blog

One of the most common questions people want to know, when filing for bankruptcy, is what type of debts are dischargeable.  While most debts are dischargeable in bankruptcy there are several types of debts that are non-dischargeable.  A debtor will not be able to discharge back-owed child support in bankruptcy.

If you are thinking of filing for bankruptcy and would like to schedule a free consultation with a local bankruptcy attorney then please contract Shmucher Law, PL by calling 305.741.5553 or 954.309.5559.   We offer free consultations in our main Miami office as well as any of our satellite offices (by appointment) including Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, and Sunrise Florida.

Sometimes I have potential clients who have had friends or family members that have previously filed for bankruptcy and that family member or friend may have had a good/bad experience with their bankruptcy trustee.  So the potential client will ask me if it is possible to know who your bankruptcy trustee will be prior to filing your case?  The answer depends on what type of bankruptcy you file.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Broward, Dade or Palm Beach county you will automatically be assigned a bankruptcy trustee at random.  So there is no way of knowing who your bankruptcy trustee will be until the actual case is filed.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

There is only one standing Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee for Broward and Palm Beach County and there is only one standing Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee for Miami-Dade County.   So in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy you will be able to know who the trustee is prior to your bankruptcy filing.

If you are thinking if filing for either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy in South Florida and you would like to speak with a local bankruptcy attorney  then please contact Ofer Shmucher at Shmucher Law, PL by calling 305.741.5553 or 954.309.5559.  We offer free consultations in our main Miami Office or any of our satellite offices (by appointment) including Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Plantation and Sunrise Florida.

A recent client asked me if she could terminate her cell phone contract through the bankruptcy and not be subject the termination fee of her provider.   The answer is YES a debtor can terminate their current cell phone contract by listing the cell phone provider on their bankruptcy petition and “rejecting their contract.”  I would put cell phone providers debts into the following three categories:

Old Cell Phone Contract Debt

If at one time you had a contract (and it has expired) and you owed an amount then by listing the old cell phone provider on your schedules you will easily be able to eliminate or discharge the debt through bankruptcy.

Current Cell Phone Contract Debt and Canceling

If you have a current cell phone contract debt and are planning on canceling the debt then you should put the owed debt amount as well as the contract on the bankruptcy petition and mark the contact as “rejected.”

Current Cell Phone Contract and Continuing to Pay

If you have a current cell phone plan and are continuing to pay then you don’t need to list the cell phone contract or the debt on the bankruptcy petition.

If you are thinking of filing for bankruptcy in South Florida and would like to schedule an appointment with a local bankruptcy attorney then please contact Ofer Shmucher at Shmucher Law, PL by calling 305.741.5553 or 954.309.5559.  We offer free consultations in our Miami office as well as any of our satellite offices (by appointment) including Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, and Sunrise Florida.

I often speak with debtors over the phone who are ready to file for bankruptcy and they are always wondering what the best steps they should do to prepare for the bankruptcy filing.  My answer every time is to get your paperwork organized.   Here are a couple of things you should consider:

Do I need to bring a list of all my creditors to the bankruptcy consultation?

No, typically the majority of your debts will be found by running your credit,  however debts such as medical debts, personal loans, and payday loans will not show up on credit reports.  If you have any medical debts, personal loans, or payday loans you should bring copies of them to your consultation.

Documents you need to bring to your initial consultation:

Always provide copies of your last three years of tax returns.  If you don’t have a copy or can’t find them, then you need to go to your local IRS office and ask for tax transcripts (they are free).

Provide copies of your last six bank statements for ANY bank account that has your name on it.

Provide copies of your last six months of any investment account that has your name on it.

Provide copies of the last six months of paystubs (paystubs determine which bankruptcy you qualify for) and the last six months of a spouses paystubs (even if the spouse is not filing).

Provide a detailed description of any vehicle driven, any boat, or any mode of transportation owned by or titled to the debtor.  The description should include the make, model, trim package, mileage and condition.

Provide copies of any litigation/lawsuit in which you are party to.

Providing documentation, to your bankruptcy attorney, is probably the best step that any debtor can take in order to ensure a successful bankruptcy filing.   If you are thinking of filing for bankruptcy and would like to schedule a consultation with a local bankruptcy lawyer, then please contact Ofer Shmucher at Shmucher Law, PL by calling 305.741.5553 or 954.309.5559.  We offer free consultations in any of our office locations including Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Plantation and Sunrise Florida.

When people have personal injury lawsuits they tend to take quite some time before they actually receive any money.  During that time period where the personal injury lawsuit is pending a person may consider filing for bankruptcy.  A question I receive from potential clients is whether or not they can file for bankruptcy while they have a pending personal injury lawsuit.  The answer is YES a person can file a bankruptcy while they have a pending personal injury lawsuit, but the more important question to ask is WHETHER they should file for bankruptcy with a pending personal injury lawsuit.

In the world of bankruptcy a personal injury lawsuit is considered an asset and in some cases it is a very lucrative asset.  A debtor, when filing for bankruptcy, must exempt the assets they want to keep and under Florida law there is NO exemption for a personal injury lawsuit.  A debtor may use the wildcard exemption or the $1,000 personal property exemption on the lawsuit but likely the debtor may not be able to cover much of the personal injury claim.  SO what happens if you have a lucrative personal injury claim and you file for bankruptcy?  In most cases you will transfer your rights in the personal injury lawsuit to the bankruptcy trustee and upon receiving any monies from the lawsuit, the monies will be used to pay off your debt.

If you have a pending personal injury lawsuit and are thinking of filing for bankruptcy then I suggest you meet with a qualified bankruptcy lawyer to determine how bankruptcy would affect your claim.  If you would like to schedule a free consultation with Shmucher Law, PL then call 305.741.5553 or 954.309.5559.  We offer consultations in any of our office locations including Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Plantation, and Sunrise Florida.

I have been meeting with numerous clients who have told me what “other attorneys” have told them regarding their vehicles and if they will lose them when they file for bankruptcy.  The answer to this question really depends on whether there is equity in your vehicle and whether you can exempt that equity in the vehicle.

A recent client told me that another attorney told her that bankruptcy trustees will not seek to take possession of cars if they are over five years old.  This advice is completely false, and following it would potentially yield the debtor from losing their vehicle.

The bankruptcy trustees job is to recover money and use that money to pay some of your creditors.   Also the bankruptcy trustee gets paid a percentage of the money that they recover in every case.  While you think that you may have a sad story and that “it’s your only car,” you must remember that your bankruptcy filing is VOLUNTARY and that once you file you understand that ramifications.  If your attorney doesn’t inform you of the consequences of filing for bankruptcy when you are over-exempt then I suggest you see a different bankruptcy attorney.

How much over-exempt is “safe” for a car:

A trustee is allowed to request the debtor to pay any amount that he or she is over-exempt on any asset, so there is no “safe” amount.  Whether the trustee acts and requests a debtor to make a payment on the amount they are over-exempt depends on the trustee (and bankruptcy trustees are assigned at random).

How long will I have to pay for an asset that is over-exempt:

A bankruptcy once told a debtor in a meeting of the creditors that he “is not in the collections business,” and that he would rather take a little less money by selling the vehicle now, rather than wait for the debtor to pay it over an extended period of time.   So the answer to how long a bankruptcy trustee will give you to repay debts really depends on the bankruptcy trustee.  Some bankruptcy trustees will give the debtor a week, while others will allow repayment plans of upwards of six months.

Before you decide to file for bankruptcy it is in your best interest to meet with a bankruptcy attorney who will give you a worst case scenario and a realistic answer as to what will happen in your case.  No bankruptcy attorney will give you a guarantee on your case but most will give you an opinion based on their experience in the district in which you are filing in.

If you are thinking of filing for bankruptcy in Florida and would like to schedule a time for a free consultation with a local bankruptcy attorney then please contact Shmucher Law, PL by calling 305.741.5553 or 954.309.5559.  We offer free consultations in any of our office locations including Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Plantation and Sunrise Florida.

If you are in a situation where you are looking to file for bankruptcy then you probably were going through some difficult times when you needed money.  The first place any person looks to get money is from family members.  Debtors routinely borrow money from family members to stay afloat in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy.   Sometime in the future the debtor may come across some money (tax return, bonus at work, etc) and the first thing they want to do with the money is payback the family members who lent them money.  This may seem to be the most rational way of thinking, in the bankruptcy world this is a bad idea.

The bankruptcy code attempts to treat all creditors on the same level, which basically means the money you borrowed from your aunt is treated the same as the money you owe on your credit card.  When you choose to pay your aunt back the money you owe her, but not to pay the credit card you owe you are PREFERING your aunt over your other debts.

So what happens if you file for bankruptcy and you paid a family member back money?  The bankrupt cy court can look back 12 months to see how much money you paid your family members.  The court will then likely sue the family member for the amount of money they received because it was considered a PREFERENCE.

Example:  If you paid your aunt $2,000 a few months before you filed for bankruptcy then she will likely be sued to return the $2,000 prior to the bankruptcy.

Don’t let the fact that there may be a preference suit prevent you from filing for bankruptcy, if you or a relative has to return a few thousand dollars in exchange for discharging tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt may be a trade that a debtor is willing to make.

Make sure to inform your bankruptcy attorney of ANY PAYMENTS YOU MADE TO FAMILY members during your initial consultation.  If you haven’t made any payments to family members then don’t pay them until after your bankruptcy case is over.

If you are thinking of filing for bankruptcy and would like to schedule a free consultation with a local bankruptcy attorney then please contact Shmucher Law, PL by calling 305.741.5553 or 954.309.5559.  We offer free consultations in any of our office locations, including Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Plantation, and Sunrise Florida.

I recently met a client who due to religious reasons gives ten percent (10%) of her income to her church, however due to the economy she is thinking of filing for bankruptcy.  She asked me if it will look bad or if she will be prevented from filing for bankruptcy because of her tithing.  The answer is NO, a debtor will be able to continue to tithe if he or she is considering filing for bankruptcy and the tithing will not preclude a debtor from filing for bankruptcy.

The only caveat is that the debtor may be required to show a history of tithing or donating money to the church in order to allow that expense.  Also there may be a limitation on the percentage of income that you will be able to use as an expense.

If you are thinking of filing for bankruptcy and would like to schedule a free consultation with a local bankruptcy attorney then please contact Shmucher Law, PL by calling 305.741.5553 or 954.309.5559.  We offer free consultations in any of our office locations including Boca Raton,  Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Plantation, and Sunrise Florida.

If a creditor has filed a lawsuit against you and obtained a judgment then they can attempt to collect on the debt by doing a number of things including, wage garnishments, freezing bank accounts, or levying property.  I was recently asked by a client if it is too late to file for bankruptcy once a creditor has frozen your bank account?  The answer to that question is NO,  a debtor can still file for bankruptcy once their account has been frozen.  Furthermore the filing of the bankruptcy will UNFREEZE the bank account and likely give the debtor his or her bank account once again.

If you are thinking of filing for bankruptcy, then the first thing you should do is go see a local bankruptcy attorney to determine your eligibility, options, and consequences of filing.  If you live in south Florida then please contact Shmucher Law, PL at 305.741.5553 or 954.309.5559 to schedule a free consultation.  We offer consultations in our main office in Miami as well as our satellite bankruptcy  offices including Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, and Sunrise Florida.

This is a common question that is asked by people who are looking to file for bankruptcy in Florida.  Their main concern is that their friend/relative/neighbor/etc. co-signed on a debt that the client will be discharging in bankruptcy.  So they will always ask, will my co-signer be liable for the debts that I am discharging in bankruptcy?  The answer is Yes, the bankruptcy will only discharge the personal liability of the person who files, not co-signers, whose obligations remain.  What does this mean for the person who is filing, not much because they will likely be able to discharge their debts through the bankruptcy, however their bankruptcy will likely have an adverse effect on the co-signer.

If you are thinking of filing for bankruptcy and would like to schedule a free consultation with a local bankruptcy lawyer then please  contact Shmucher Law, PL by calling 305.741.5553 or 954.309.5559.  We offer free one hour consultations in any of our office locations including Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Plantation, and Sunrise Florida.