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Exemptions for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Pipestone, MN

If you are unable to meet your monthly debt payments and don’t know how to get yourself out of your current financial situation, bankruptcy might be a valuable option for government-addressed debt relief. Filing for bankruptcy is a process that’s frequently given a negative image, primarily because of the impact it has on your credit score, but in fact, bankruptcy often has a positive long-term effect on your financial standing. Petitioning for bankruptcy and working through the filing process may seem daunting, and it is a nuanced legal procedure. However, with the help of a professional bankruptcy attorney, you can put together a strong, successful case for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Pipestone, MN.

 

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is one of the most common bankruptcy chapters individuals and businesses file for in the United States. The process of Chapter 7 bankruptcy works to liquidate your non-exempt assets (properties) in exchange for discharging (dissolving) your debts. If your income is lower than the amount you are required to pay for your current monthly debts and your reasonable and necessary living expenses, you qualify for Chapter 7.

 

While Chapter 7 seems like a last gasp for many, largely because of the liquidation process, it’s not a process designed to leave you destitute. While some of your assets could be sold or liquidated, that is the exception rather than the rule.  Most people who  file for bankruptcy relief can and do protect and keep their properties with their allowed bankruptcy exemptions.

 

Exemptions are a key part of the filing process for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The U.S. Bankruptcy Code provides exemption allowances for many of your properties, from your home and car to your small personal property items. The current Minnesota exemptions include:

 

  1. Homestead: Up to $420,000 for most homes (non-agricultural use) or $1,050,000 if the home is used primarily for agricultural purposes.
  2. Insurance: Including accident, disability, and life insurance for a spouse and dependent beneficiaries as well as fire and police beneficiaries.
  3. Trade Tools: Including agricultural equipment, livestock, and crop stores up to $13,000 in value; teaching materials and other tools of trade up to $12,000.
  4. Wages: 75% of your earned, unpaid wages within the past six months; wages earned within six months of release from prison; and wages paid within six months of employment after welfare.
  5. Personal Property: Including appliances, furniture, radios, and TVs up to $10,800; burial plots, church pews, clothing and watches, food, utensils.
  6. Public Benefits: Including compensation for crime victims, unemployment, and workers’ as well as veterans’ benefits.
  7. Miscellaneous: The wages of your child under 18, ERISA-qualified benefits and IRAs under $72,000, and property of partnership businesses.
  8. Vehicle. Value in a motor vehicle of up to $4,800.00.

 

The preceding list denotes just some of the many exemptions you can claim in a Chapter 7 case. First and foremost, bankruptcy is designed to be fair to you and your creditors alike. The court does not want you to be left with nothing, and so exemptions allow you to protect your property during a Chapter 7 liquidation.

 

To learn more about filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Pipestone, MN, contact Behm Law Group Ltd. at (507) 387-7200 today.

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Resolving Sudden Financial Crises with the Right Bankruptcy Attorney in Waseca, MN

The economy we live in allows for rapid financial shifts for individuals and businesses alike. While these changes can be positive, there is often a greater chance that you or your business will face negative outcomes as a result. For those who own and operate a retail business in the U.S., the reality of how quickly their financial status can change is recognized across industries. If you’re facing a recent change to your finances and have had hardship in meeting debt payments, it might be time to tackle these issues. With the help of Behm Law Group, Ltd. you can find debt relief through bankruptcy with the guidance of an expert bankruptcy attorney in Waseca, MN.

 

For businesses and individuals alike, bankruptcy is frequently painted in a negative light, but the truth is that both reorganization and liquidation bankruptcies are viable and highly effective long-term processes if applied to the right situation with the help of a bankruptcy attorney.

 

One example of a situation in which two separate types of bankruptcy first failed to fix and then successfully remedied a business in debt are the recent cases of the Scheherazade Jewelers in Edina, MN.

 

The Scheherazade Jewelers were an upscale shop specializing in high-end jewelry ranging from the $500-$50,000 range. The company was well-established in the Galleria mall, and up until recently was located in a prime spot that allowed for exposure to major mall traffic. However, after the store moved to a lesser trafficked location in the mall, revenue started to decline.

 

In 2010, the store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and had their debts reorganized into a repayment plan suited to their then-current income. This chapter works similarly to Chapter 13 bankruptcy, a common bankruptcy process that is limited to individuals, spouses, sole proprietorship businesses, and partnership businesses. The benefits provided to Scheherazade Jewelers through Chapter 11 proved to be less effective than desired, and the business continued to lose profits.

 

In March of 2019, the store filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy. For both individuals and businesses, Chapter 7 bankruptcy can be a gradual or a sudden necessity. The process liquidates assets in exchange for debt discharge. Essentially, while Chapter 11 only provided a short-term attempt at long-term debt resolution, Scheherazade Jewelers could not stay afloat in the current economy. Instead, Chapter 7 provided a valuable way for the owners to cut losses and gain a fresh financial start.

 

For the creditors of Scheherazade Jewelers, this Chapter 7 bankruptcy may have been a sudden blow, but the financial patterns displayed over the past 9 years reveal a long buildup to liquidation. If you’re struggling with your debts, you can decide whether you want to resolve them now or have a long buildup to a bankruptcy that seems sudden.

 

Contact Behm Law Group, Ltd. at (507) 387-7200 today for more information about filing and how an expert bankruptcy attorney in Waseca, MN can help you build a successful case for long-term relief.

 

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Guidelines and Limitations of Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Windom, MN

Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a format of debt reorganization most common for individuals and some types of businesses. Overseen and administered by a standing bankruptcy trustee, a Chapter 13 case takes secured, unsecured, and priority debts and alters them into a consolidated repayment plan that lasts three to five years depending on the debt amount of the filer. If you have a steady income and want to protect your assets from the liquidation that could occur in a Chapter 7 case, Chapter 13 may be the best choice for you. With the guidance of Behm Law Group, Ltd., you can successfully file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Windom, MN and obtain long-term debt relief.

 

While Chapter 13 is a highly effective bankruptcy option for people in a broad range of financial situations, it has limitations and guidelines like any other type of legal process. The most basic of these limitations decides who can and can’t file.

 

Who can file?

  1. Individuals:
    1. For an individual to qualify for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, they must have a steady income that allows for reasonable and necessary expenses for living to be factored out of their repayment plan while still meeting monthly payments.
    2. They must have undergone credit counseling within 180 days prior to filing.
    3. They cannot have secured debts exceeding $1,184,200 or unsecured debts exceeding $394,725.
    4. They must have filed all of their income tax returns for the past four years prior to filing.
    5. They cannot have filed a Chapter 13 case within the past two years or a Chapter 7 case within the past four years.
    6. They cannot have filed and had dismissed another bankruptcy case within the last 180 days.
  2. Spouses:
    1. Spouses can file a joint Chapter 13 case involving both of their debts and combined incomes if they have also met all the requirements listed for individual filers.
  3. Businesses:
    1. Some businesses are eligible to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Specifically, those whose owners are personally liable for the business debts.
    2. This includes sole proprietorships and business partnerships.

 

Other limitations and guidelines of Chapter 13 bankruptcy outline the repayment plan itself.

What is an accepted repayment plan?

  1. For a filer’s repayment plan proposal to be accepted by their trustee and the court, it must meet specific requirements designed in fairness to creditors.
  2. In their repayment plan, a filer must be able to repay allowed secured creditors’, under adjusted loan terms/conditions, in full over a three to five-year period.
  3. Their priority debts such as tax debts, child support debts, alimony, criminal fines, etc., must be included in the plan and must be repaid in full over a three to five-year period.
  4. Unsecured debts must be repaid the value of the filer’s non-exempt assets that would have otherwise been liquidated in a Chapter 7 process.   This is informally referred to as the “Best Interests Test”.  For example, if a filer would have non-exempt assets totaling $10,000.00 in a hypothetical Chapter 7 case, the filer must pay that amount over a three to five-year period to their creditors in a Chapter 13 case.

 

While there are many guidelines to follow and limitations to adhere to in the process of Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Windom, MN, it’s undeniable that it has been an effective treatment for a wide variety of debtors. To learn more about the process or to get started, contact Behm Law Group, Ltd. at (507) 387-7200 today.

 

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Rising Debt in the Growing Season Increases Cases of Chapter 12 Bankruptcy in Mankato, MN

Ever since people have learned to grow plants and care for livestock, farming has proved to be one of the most difficult occupations in which to make money. Because farming is so dependent on natural conditions, it’s inevitable that it is often filled with hardship. In today’s global economy, and in the face of changing environmental factors, farming has become a harder way to make a living than ever before. If you are struggling to support your farm, you are not alone. With the help of Behm Law Group Ltd., you can decide whether filing for Chapter 12 bankruptcy in Mankato, MN, is the right choice for you, and work through the process with our guidance and support.

 

Chapter 12 bankruptcy is specifically designed to treat the financial conditions of a family farmer. Like Chapter 13 and Chapter 11, this process reorganizes your debts into a manageable repayment plan overseen by a bankruptcy trustee. This allows you to keep your company and property stabilized until your debts are repaid under adjusted or modified loan terms. If you have a difficult few years, Chapter 12 can be a critical option for keeping your family farm running.

 

The problem many farmers have struggled with in the last twenty years is a lack of demand. Farmers can grow more corn and soybeans than ever before thanks to GMOs and pesticide technology. While crop demand increased with production until recently, it has now started to drop in comparison with the supply ratio. Due to this, farmers are seeing decreasing income in response to the time, hard work, and cost of crop production.

 

Reflecting the difficult times farmers are currently facing across the country, Minnesota has seen a rapid increase in the number of Chapter 12 cases, especially during the spring growing season. Spring is the time of year when income from the previous season is most important to be able to get a new crop in the ground and established for the coming months. If you have struggled to make ends meet in the previous year and have seen a decrease in demand for your supply, you may be facing an even lower return in this new season.

 

This cycle starts to resemble a spiraling out of income and a loading on of debt for farmers. A demand for crops that cannot match the supply grown causes a lower income for farmers. This lower income prevents them from paying necessary costs-of-living and farming expenses, and results in more debt, more loans taken out, and in the long term, a higher risk of bankruptcy.

 

Despite this negative cycle we are currently seeing for Minnesota farmers, the possibilities that Chapter 12 bankruptcy offers are a silver lining that, not only allows farmers to keep their businesses running and resolve debt, but also provides a long-term solution for unbalanced supply and demand. To learn more about how filing for Chapter 12 bankruptcy in Mankato, MN, can help farmers with unmanageable debt, contact Behm Law Group Ltd. at (507) 387-7200 today.

 

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Preventing Foreclosure and Keeping Your Home with Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in St. Peter, MN

Filing for bankruptcy can be a long-term solution for many financial problems, from credit card debt to car loans. Bankruptcy can also prevent and resolve the issue of a looming foreclosure. If you are struggling to meet debt payments each month, including those on your mortgage, bankruptcy might be the right choice for your household. With the help of Behm Law Group Ltd., you can file a successful case resulting in an effective repayment plan through Chapter 13 bankruptcy in St. Peter, MN. Not only will this repayment plan stop foreclosure, it will also provide a foundational solution for the rest of your debts that can be treated in the bankruptcy process.

 

If your home goes into foreclosure, it can be at least seven years before a lender will consider you for another property loan. However, it can take just two to four years after a bankruptcy before you can take out another mortgage on a home or business. Filing for bankruptcy is also a better option to keep your home and find additional resolutions for your other debts.

 

Automatic Stay

As soon as you file for bankruptcy, the court will automatically place a stay on your creditors’ right to collect any debts from you. This means you will be given relief from any mortgage foreclosure actions as well as collection actions for your other debts until the outcome of your case is resolved. If you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the ideal outcome of your case will be a comprehensive three- to five-year repayment plan that is suited to your income and your reasonable and necessary living expenses.

 

Property Protection

In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment plan, you won’t have to go through the same process you would in a Chapter 7 plan. This means your property will be protected from liquidation sales, but it also means you will still be responsible for paying debts on property, such as your house or vehicle, that you may want to keep.  Post-petition (after the bankruptcy filing) payments on any debts that are secured by such physical property, must continue to be paid throughout the duration of a Chapter 13 plan. If you want to keep your home, you must pay the ongoing, post-petition regular mortgage payments.  Any delinquency that you may have on the mortgage before your case is filed will be paid by the chapter 13 trustee through your chapter 13 payment plan.  However, you would still be required to make the regular mortgage payments that come due after the filing of your case and you would continue to make those payments directly to the mortgage creditor.

 

The benefit of filing for bankruptcy in this scenario is that your payment plan is structured, monitored, and enforced by the court and the bankruptcy trustee. Your Chapter 13 repayment plan is highly mutable based on your current income situation. For example, if your income drops beyond a point where you can meet your payments for a three-year plan, the court can alter your repayment plan into a five-year structure with lower monthly payments instead of the original proposal.

 

To learn more about filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in St. Peter, MN, and other bankruptcy options, contact Behm Law Group Ltd. today at (507) 387-7200.

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Consequences of Asset Hiding When Filing Bankruptcy in Jackson, MN

If your debts are severely affecting your quality of life or the function of your business, it may be the right choice to look for realistic debt relief options. While some debt relief options are possible in negotiations with creditors and third parties, filing bankruptcy offers truly permanent, court enforced/sanctioned solutions for debt relief. When you find yourself looking for answers in a complicated financial world, Behm Law Group, Ltd. can provide all the assistance and guidance you need when filing bankruptcy in Jackson, MN

 

Bankruptcy resolves in several ways depending on the type of chapter you qualify for:

  1. If you’re an individual filer or a business with debts that outweigh income, you can qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This process works to liquidate your non-exempt assets in exchange for the discharge of your debts.
  2. If you don’t qualify for Chapter 7, you can qualify for Chapter 13 as either an individual filer or as a business. This process works to restructure your debts into a manageable repayment plan lasting three to five years. A similar process some businesses can choose instead of Chapter 13 is Chapter 11, which works very large businesses and individuals with very high incomes and very large amounts of debt.
  3. Finally, family farmers and fishers have a specialized bankruptcy process through Chapter 12. This is also a repayment plan structure, but it is designed to be processed in an expeditious legal protocol that is uniquely tailored to the specialized nature of the filer.

 

No matter what type of bankruptcy you file, there are certain parts of the process that are the same in all chapters. One major consistency between every single case that has ever been and will be filed is that the filer must be completely transparent about their finances.

 

Transparency about your finances, whether you’re filing as an individual or as a business, includes providing information to the court about your debts, income, living expenses and assets/properties. Failing to provide this information can result not only in your case being dismissed but also in having accusations of fraud leveled against you. You sign your bankruptcy paperwork under oath and subject to penalty of perjury.  One common type of bankruptcy fraud is asset hiding.

 

If you hide your assets, you can expect several consequences in your bankruptcy case, all negative:

  1. Your debts connected to that asset won’t be discharged because it’s impossible to treat a property secured debt in bankruptcy without revealing the asset.
  2. Discharges provided in your case may be revoked when the asset is inevitably revealed.
  3. If you file for bankruptcy in the future, previously hidden debts cannot be discharged.
  4. If you commit fraud, you can be sued and even face criminal charges with hefty fines or jail time attached.

 

If you’re planning on filing bankruptcy in Jackson, MN, contact Behm Law Group, Ltd. today at (507) 387-7200 to learn more about how our attorneys can help and for comprehensive counsel throughout your case.