Beware of swapping your domestic obligations with your former spouse. Substituting debts or replacing property that was originally the former spouse’s obligation or asset can bring about unforeseen consequences. Example: The former wife was awarded the marital home, and the former husband was required to pay the mortgage until satisfied. …
No. Spendthrift trusts, IRA accounts, 401K plans, and ERISA qualified retirement plans are not property of a bankruptcy estate. If an asset is not property of the estate, the debtor does not have to claim it as exempt to protect it from the claims of creditors; it is by definition…
Bankruptcy court authority in the domestic relations arena is limited and very narrow. Bankruptcy courts cannot grant divorces, decide custody or award support. Bankruptcy courts have the authority by statute to decide two things: whether an obligation is in the nature of alimony, support or maintenance, regardless of how it…
The “withholding, suspension, or restriction of a driver’s license, a professional or occupational license, or a recreational license, or the reporting of overdue support to a consumer reporting agency, or the interception of a tax refund” are actions that can be taken upon an individual as a penalty for failure…
Filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be used to pay past due support over an extended period of time (max of 5 years within a single Chapter 13 plan) and yes, it can protect the debtor from going to jail for previously failing to pay what was due. It’s important to…