Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

Veterans, like many other Americans, are struggling with debt during the coronavirus pandemic. According to a recent article in Military.com , President Biden announced that he has asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to pause debt collection from veterans in an executive order. That executive order, according to the article, “will help approximately 2 million veterans [to] maintain their financial footing” during this difficult period for many veterans across the country. The pause on debt collections applies to “federal collections on overpayments and debts.” If you are a veteran, it is important to understand how the executive order benefits you, and when those benefits may come to an end. Executive Order to Help Struggling Veterans During the Pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic, people across the U.S. are struggling with job loss and medical debt due to COVID-19 infections. Veterans, too, are struggling. In the executive order signed last month, President Biden did the fol...

If a consumer files for personal bankruptcy in Oak Park, Illinois , current federal bankruptcy law allows that consumer to exempt—or keep—certain assets. In other words, some property is exempt from liquidation and cannot be used in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case to repay creditors. For most individuals who file for bankruptcy , Social Security payments always are exempt. This means that anyone receiving Social Security payments cannot be required to turn over that money to creditors in order to receive a discharge in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. Yet not all federal benefits are treated equally in this regard. As a recent article in The Wall Street Journal explains, changes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code back in 2005 have “disproportionately squeezed money from disabled veterans, retired people, and the unemployed, who have had to dip into pensions and public-assistance income to pay back debt through a much more arduous bankruptcy process.” Not All Benefits are Exempt in a Consumer Bank...

Currently, when a disabled veteran files for personal bankruptcy , that veteran’s disability benefits are classified as disposable income. Accordingly, a disabled veteran’s benefits can be seized if that veteran files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy . Veterans’ benefits are treated differently than many other benefits in bankruptcy since most other benefits are exempt. Recognizing the harms of not protecting a disabled veteran’s benefits, two U.S. senators recently introduced a bill that is designed to make disabled veterans’ benefits exempt in bankruptcy. According to a recent article in Military Times , Senator Tammy Baldwin and Senator John Cornyn introduced a bipartisan bill known as the Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need Act, or the HAVEN Act for short. We want to say more about the proposed legislation and how it would help disabled veterans who file for consumer bankruptcy. How the HAVEN Act is Designed to Help Veterans in Bankruptcy The HAVEN Act has su...

Like other consumers, veterans and military service members can have difficulty dealing with debt . For example, while a military service member is deployed or otherwise on active duty, a current salary may mean that she or he has difficulty making monthly payments on a mortgage or on credit cards. Or, perhaps, a military service member on active duty supports a spouse who has to deal with a medical emergency, and that medical emergency ends up costing thousands of dollars unexpectedly. In other situations, a veteran may have retired from the military years or even decades ago, and now may be having trouble making payments on monthly bills or may be having difficulty keeping a small business afloat. In addition to complications that can arise for active duty service members who are considering personal bankruptcy , there are also considerations for veterans of the military who are currently receiving Veterans Disability benefits. As a recent article in Forbes explains, Veter...

Many veterans in the Chicago area are all too familiar with the difficulty of earning a living after returning to civilian life. Numerous veterans in Illinois have filed for consumer bankruptcy and have lost their homes to foreclosure. Is it still possible to buy a home after experiencing financial setbacks? According to an article from Military.com , home ownership is not out of reach for America’s veterans who have sought bankruptcy protection. To be sure, veterans who have filed for personal bankruptcy can still count on using their VA home loan benefits. Veterans Filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Making the decision to file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy is often difficult. While bankruptcy protection can be a powerful tool for veterans with insurmountable debt, it can also make it difficult to secure credit in the months afterward. Personal bankruptcy can hurt your credit score, and a low credit score can make it hard to find a mortgage lend...