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01 March
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What happens to my tax refunds in a Hawaii Bankruptcy?

Posted by Ed Magauran
in Recent Articles

It depends whether you are filing chapter 7 or chapter 13. If you receive your tax refund after filing chapter 13 bankruptcy, it has to be payed to the bankruptcy trustee unless it can be exempted and minus any earned income or child tax credit It is also subject to setoff, recoupment or otherwise provided for by your plan. If you are filing chapter 7, your tax refund must be listed as an asset to the extent that it is earned and claimed as exempt if permitted under your state or federal exemptions. Any non exempt refunds through petition date will have...

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01 February
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What is chapter 7 bankruptcy in Hawaii?

Posted by Ed Magauran
in Recent Articles

Chapter 7 is a "straight" or "liquidation" bankruptcy. Filing for and completion of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy takes on average 4 to 6 months. We gather the required information of your assets, debts, income, and expenses and provide them to the Court in the reuired format. After filing most people can exempt or keep all of their assets and still dump the debt. Once you have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the Court issues an "Order of Relief." This Order stays or stops most, if not all, creditors from try to collect debts from you. This is a huge releif.  Filing and the...

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01 January
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What is a Co-Debtor Stay in Chapter 13 Hawaii Bankruptcy?

Posted by Ed Magauran
in Recent Articles

The Co-Debtor Stay applies in Chapter 13 bankruptcy toconsumer debts. It does not apply in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The co-debtor stay stops collection against people who are not in bankruptcy.  When a person files chapter 13 that filing also protects any one else who owes onthe debt as well.  It protets them even though they did not file bankruptcy. A co-debtor is someone who agrees to be liable on the debt with the debtor, the person filing bankruptcy. It does not matter if they sign as "secondary" or "primary" or as "guarnator" or as a "surety." All of those persons...

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01 December
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What is Lien Stripping In a Chapter 13 Hawaii Bankruptcy?

Posted by Ed Magauran
in Recent Articles

Lien Stripping is available in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. It is not available in a chapter 7 bankruptcy. Lien Stripping is permissible, with several caveats, when the Fair Market Value of the property is worth less than is owed on the secured lien to be stripped. For example, if the fair market value of your residence is $450,000.00 and you have two mortgages. The first mortgage balance is $450,001.00 then the second mortgage is "wholly undersecured" and may be stripped. If you are successful in stripping the lien, in order for it to stay stripped, you must fully complete the Chapter 13...

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15 December
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The Latest on Social Security Income Bankruptcy Laws in Hawaii

Posted by Ed Magauran
in Recent Articles

We hate to see people who have worked hard all their lives use their Social Security earnings to try to pay down high-interest credit card debt. So we're pleased that another appellate court has weighed in favorably for retirees on the question of whether Social Security income must be included in calculating the monthly payments that chapter 13 filers must make in their debt consolidation plans. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest to hold that a chapter 13 debtor's Social Security income is not included in determining the debtor's "projected disposable income" available for repayment of credit card...

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