When you take on a loan agreement of any kind, you’re responsible for repaying that debt for as long as you’re able to meet monthly debt payments without detriment to your wellbeing or the wellbeing of the members of your household. In the event you’re unable to keep making debt payments, you have several options for negotiating around this difficulty, one of which is to enter into the legal process of bankruptcy. If you find you’re having difficulties meeting debt payments from month-to-month, Behm Law Group, Ltd. offers the assistance and counsel of a knowledgeable, experienced bankruptcy lawyer in Mankato, MN.
If you choose to file for bankruptcy, you’re entering into a legal proceeding that’s designed to provide a fair outcome for all parties involved. No matter what type of bankruptcy you file for, the parties involved include you as the debtor, your creditors, and the bankruptcy trustee who is assigned by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to oversee and administer your bankruptcy case and who is, essentially, a fiduciary or advocate for your creditors.
Your bankruptcy trustee may oversee the administration of your case, but each party still has a role in determining the outcome. Part of this outcome relies on whether there are adversary proceedings involved in your case.
What are adversary proceedings?
In a nutshell, an adversary proceeding is a complaint from one of the parties involved in your case that is issued as an official file to the court. It is a separate and distinct legal proceeding from the bankruptcy filing itself. This filing can come from you, one of your creditors, or your bankruptcy trustee, and it can be a result of a number of aspects of your case.
When do they happen?
Adversary proceedings can be filed for a wide range of complaints about your bankruptcy case. Common complaints filed as adversary proceedings include:
- A creditor claims your debt cannot be discharged because you incurred the debt through fraudulent activity.
- You have multiple mortgages on your home and want to strip the junior liens to handle them as unsecured claims in your case.
- Your bankruptcy trustee discovers you made fraudulent transfers of accounts or properties within two years of filing.
- Your bankruptcy trustee discovers you made preferential transfers of accounts or properties within 90 days of filing.
- You have a jointly owned property and your trustee wants to force the sale of that asset in a liquidation case, possibly forcing both you and the co-owner to forfeit the possession of the property.
- Your creditor or trustee objects to the discharge of any particular debt or to your entire discharge/debt relief in your case on the grounds of your possible fraudulent activities as a debtor.
With the guidance of a knowledgeable bankruptcy lawyer, you can avoid many kinds of adversary proceedings that could render your case illegitimate or, when warranted, file your own adversary proceedings to affect positive change in your case.
Find A Bankruptcy Lawyer Today
If you’re considering filing for individual or business bankruptcy, contact Behm Law Group, Ltd. at (507) 387-7200 to get started with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer in Mankato, MN today.
