Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Using your credit card to pay taxes may make sense–sometimes. However, there are important considerations to using credit cards for this purpose. Kelly Phillips Erb, a Philadelphia tax lawyer and blogger at “Tax Girl,” recently wrote a great post entitled, “Five Ways to Pay Your Taxes When…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Once we decide a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is in your best interest, the next question you’ll probably ask is, “how much will my Chapter 13 payment be?”
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Senior citizens have problems with debt just like everyone else. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve met with two sweet older ladies to discuss their financial problems. First things first The first thing I do when dealing with an older client is to determine what assets…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Debt buyers claim they have the right to collect for the original creditor. But do they? You couldn’t pay that credit card debt a few years ago, and so you stopped paying it. MasterCard called for a while, but the calls eventually stopped. Now, Shark Collections called…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Student loans are, practically speaking, almost non-dischargeable in bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Code and the law interpreting it says, in essence, that the debtor must be disabled and that he must prove he is–and will be–unable to repay the student loans. The fact that you paid a fortune…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Wage garnishment is extremely limited in South Carolina, though debt collectors will attempt to convince you otherwise. Still, there are exceptions you need to understand. While almost all other states have wage garnishment statutes, South Carolina has taken a different path. In South Carolina private parties…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott 401(k) loans are treated differently in Chapter 7 bankruptcy than they are in Chapter 13 bankruptcy. And by “401(k) loans” I mean any deferred compensation loans–403(b)s, 457s, and other similar qualified plans. In Chapter 7, 401(k) loans are basically ignored. It’s my practice to show…
Guest post written by Philadelphia Bankruptcy Lawyer, Dan Mueller When I first started taking bankruptcy cases in the 1990s, I rarely had a senior citizen as a client. Today, it is not unusual to see people in their 70s and older in desperate financial straits. (My oldest client is 90.) Most of us assume…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott One of my readers recently asked about how much debt he needed to file bankruptcy. That’s a good question, and I’m asked that frequently. There’s no set amount of debt you must have to file bankruptcy. As I’ve said before, each case is unique. …
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