Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

If you are thinking about filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy , you may know that this type of bankruptcy is a liquidation bankruptcy that will result in all non-exempt assets being liquidated in order for you to get a discharge of all eligible remaining debts. Many consumers want to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy because it is much faster than a Chapter 13 bankruptcy process, which stretches out over a number of years. Yet when consumers are trying to understand the timeline for a common Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, the amount of time between filing a bankruptcy petition to a discharge can be somewhat unclear. In general, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitioner will typically be eligible to receive a discharge anywhere from 80 to 100 days after filing the bankruptcy petition. Yet there are many steps that have to occur prior to a discharge, and we will go through the timeline for those steps below. Within 180 Days Before You File for Bankruptcy: Complete Your Credit Counseling Course Within 1...

If you are self-employed and your business is struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, you may be thinking about filing for bankruptcy . Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic is making it extremely difficult for small businesses to remain in business, especially those that were struggling financially prior to the coronavirus outbreak. Yet it is important to keep in mind that complications can arise when you are filing for bankruptcy as a self-employed person. You should know that an experienced Oak Park bankruptcy lawyer can help you with your case today. In the meantime, the following are five things to know about bankruptcy for the self-employed. You Need to Know Whether You Want to File for Personal Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy for Your Business, or Both When you say you are self-employed and want to file for bankruptcy, it is important to know the answer to this question: Do you want to file for personal bankruptcy, business bankruptcy, or both? Depending upon the nature of your self-emplo...

If you are struggling to manage debt and have been considering the possibility of filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy for some time, you may be concerned that you will not be able to file during the coronavirus pandemic. Whether you have been thinking about bankruptcy for some time or recently have started to consider personal bankruptcy as an option, you should know that you can still move forward with your case while Illinois and the rest of the country (and the globe) seeks to manage the outbreak and to prevent the spread of the virus. To be sure, filing for consumer bankruptcy during the COVID-19 emergency does not look too different from a bankruptcy filing that occurs under normal circumstances. We want to tell you more about the steps of the bankruptcy process you should anticipate, and to clarify how the coronavirus pandemic could change some of the ways those steps are completed. Work Directly with a Bankruptcy Lawyer to File Your Case You do not need to worry ab...

Bankruptcy law can be complicated and confusing even when there is no pandemic affecting consumers across the country. With the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in substantial job loss, illness, and medical bills in the Chicago area and throughout Oak Park, many debtors are considering their options for personal bankruptcy . While most rules concerning bankruptcy filings have not changed, there are some important changes to note. Some of these changes are temporary, while others are not. We want to tell you more about some of the ways in which COVID-19 is changing consumer bankruptcy cases. Passing the Means Test for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy You might know that, in order to be eligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy as an individual debtor (or if you are filing as a married couple with your spouse), that you must be able to pass something known as the “means test.” The means test considers a debtor’s income, monthly expenses, and family size to determine whether that debtor has enough disposable i...

With jobless claims hitting a record-high in the United States as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, experts are anticipating that consumer bankruptcy filings are likely to increase significantly. As an article in The New York Times explains, the financial crisis of 2008 resulted in the loss of approximately 26 million job-loss claims beyond the average level of about 345,000. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic, the number of people without jobs could far exceed the rate of joblessness during the financial crisis. Further, job loss as a result of the coronavirus is happening at a much faster rate. As of April 2, 2020, jobless claims have reached a total of more than 6.6 million just since the previous week. To put that number in perspective, prior to this past week, the highest recorded number of unemployment filings in a single week was 695,000 in the year 1982. As more Americans are without a paycheck and unable to make credit card payments or payments on medical bills, cour...