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Bankruptcy can relieve debtors from liability for some unsecured debts and prevent creditors from taking collection actions. According to a July 2009 Bloomberg report, there were 675,351 consumer bankruptcy filings in the first half of 2009, a 36.5 percent increase over 2008 numbers. Older Americans have experienced the sharpest increase in bankruptcy filings, jumping from 8.2 percent of debtors in 1991 to 22.3 percent in 2007, according to a study by the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, as reported by The Associated Press. The study found that Americans 55 and older accounted for approximately 8 percent of bankruptcies filed in 2001. But by 2007 Americans 55 and older represented 22 percent of bankruptcy filings. The increase was also found by the Public Policy Institute of the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren, author of the study, also found that the median age for bankruptcy filers had increased…
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Kansas City Bankruptcy Lawyers Discuss Chapter 7 Eligibility Starting November 1, 2014, all new bankruptcy filings will undergo new means test numbers. This will not affect bankruptcies filed before this date. The numbers are based on data from the 2010 US Census concerning the median family income by family size. What is the Bankruptcy Means Test? Congress created the means test in 2005 to assess two things: 1) whether a person is eligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and if not 2) what that person’s monthly payment would need to be in a Chapter 13 case. The test was created specifically to prevent those with a high income from filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in an effort to get them to file for Chapter 13 instead so that at least a portion of their debts would be paid. There are some exceptions to the means test, such as if you are…
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Kansas City Bankruptcy Attorneys Analyze Alarming Reports Student loans are some of the most common forms of debt facing Americans, and not just by students. Many parents have taken out loans to pay for their children’s college educations, and as some recent reports show, this is causing many parents and grandparents to fall into serious financial trouble. Our Kansas City bankruptcy attorneys explain how a bankruptcy might affect your or your child’s ability to apply for and continue receiving student loans. How are Parents Affected by Student Loan Debt? If you are concerned about the effect your child’s student loans might have on your own financial status, you are not alone. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, two million Americans over the age of 50 have outstanding student loan debt. Debt among older Americans has reached $50 billion nationwide, much higher than past years. Overall, the country…
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Our Kansas City Bankruptcy Lawyers Discuss Fraud After the Holidays With the holiday season ending, many consumers are strapped for cash as the bills for the gifts, travel and decorations start to roll in. According to a survey by Deloitte, the total amount of holiday spending for 2013 increased by 12 percent over the amount of spending last year. For individuals and families in good financial standing who spent a substantial amount of money during the holidays, these bills will more than likely be nothing but a memory by Valentine’s Day. However, those forced to spend frugally over the holidays are often the ones struggling to make ends meet well into the New Year. These folks are usually buried by several seasons of gaining debt, with Deloitte reporting that households making less than $100,000 had spend roughly $854 for the holidays this year. Many times, the pressures of their financial…
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