Category: Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is one of several ways for individuals and businesses in the United States to resolve debts they can’t repay. While there are different chapters of bankruptcy that follow some general processes and rules, there are also complicated aspects and nuanced conditions that change from case to case. When it comes to business bankruptcy, the question of who is liable for the business debts is a key point of the case. That liability is determined by the way a business is organized for tax, revenue, and general legal purposes. If you are considering using Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Waseca, MN, to resolve your business debts, Behm Law Group Ltd. can help you build a strong case for long-term debt relief and financial balance.

Bankruptcy

In filing for bankruptcy, the way that your business is established determines whether or not you’re responsible for its debts. When a business is set up as a sole proprietorship or partnership, for example, the owners of the business are personally responsible for their company’s debts. If a business is set up as a limited liability company (LLC) or corporation, on the other hand, the owners, members, or shareholders are generally not personally responsible for the company’s debts.  Some lenders, however, will require the owner of a company to sign a personal guarantee for the company’s debts.

While business owners often establish their company as an LLC or corporation in order to not be held personally responsible for business debts, there is one exception where they can be held liable. A court process called “piercing the corporate veil” can render owners, members, or shareholders of an LLC or corporation personally liable for business debt.

To pierce the corporate veil of your company, your creditors need to file a lawsuit. If the court sides with your creditors, you, any other owners, members, or shareholders of your company’s stock may be forced to repay the business debt or include it in a personal bankruptcy case. If you aren’t filing for bankruptcy, your creditors can pull from your home, bank accounts, investments, wages, or other assets to repay the debt owed.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

If you are filing for bankruptcy, and the court pierces the corporate veil, your business debts are included in the same way your personal debts are. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, your business debts will likely be included in the discharge process, but if they are secured to an asset, that property will also likely be repossessed and liquidated by the creditor to repay the debt. In a Chapter 13 case, business debts will be included for payment in your repayment plan.

Generally speaking, piercing the corporate veil in court is very rare. The process will only be approved if your company acted recklessly or fraudulently in its borrowing practices or business dealings, if your creditors were unjustly left with unpaid funds, or if there isn’t an actual separation between your finances and your company’s finances.

To learn more about how business debts are handled in a Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Waseca, MN, or the surrounding areas, contact Behm Law Group Ltd. by calling (507) 387-7200 or emailing stephen@mankatobankruptcy.com.

One of the most commonly reported causes of debt and the filing of bankruptcy cases is divorce. No matter what a married couple’s financial situation is before a divorce, the legal, emotional, and physical process of ending a marriage wreaks havoc. If you’ve worked through a divorce and find yourself facing serious debt, you are not alone. Divorce is one of the most difficult life changes in many ways, including having a significant impact on your finances. Divorce typically splits savings and properties between spouses, legal fees and attorney costs can be high, child support payments are required from the spouse that does not gain custody of any dependents in the marriage, and alimony payments are generally assessed against one party in the divorce as well. All that said, it’s not surprising that post-divorce finances can be complex and burdensome. If you’re looking for debt assistance in Owatonna, MN after a divorce, Behm Law Group, Ltd. can provide legal support and protection throughout a bankruptcy case. Our skilled attorneys will handle your case with care, expertise, and sensitivity from start to finish.

 

Most attorneys will recommend waiting to file for bankruptcy until after a divorce is finalized or filing jointly as spouses before a divorce is started. This is largely because of the complexities of overlapping state and federal legal procedures and the significant costs with filing two different legal proceedings at the same time.

 

However, if you need to use bankruptcy for debt assistance after a divorce, you won’t need to worry about the overlap or going through two complicated legal processes – divorce and bankruptcy – at the same time. If you aren’t filing jointly with your spouse, it’s likely you’ll qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Those eligible for Chapter 7 have income-to-debt ratios below the state median or average income for a household of a similar size.

 

Chapter 7 works to liquidate non-exempt assets in exchange for debt discharge. Filers are allotted several bankruptcy exemptions that protect the equity or value they have in their home, car, furniture, and household appliances and many other assets from the liquidation process.  In the vast majority of chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, the only things people lose are their burdensome debts.

 

Why Divorced Spouses Will Qualify

• If you have custody of your children, you have to support them with a lower income than when you were married. This situation means divorced spouses often resort to being more dependent on credit cards and other forms of borrowing.
• The spouse that did not gain custody of the children of a marriage may be required to pay alimony and child support. Though they only support themselves in their household, there are many new financial obligations in their lives that result from a divorce.
• Divorced spouses may lose health insurance that they otherwise had through their ex-spouse’s workplace. If they don’t qualify for state-supported programs, they may have significant trouble paying for health insurance or medical bills.

 

Chapter 7 will not allow the discharge of certain debts involved with divorce, like alimony and child support, but it will discharge many other debts, including medical bills, credit card debt, foreclosed mortgages, bounced checks, checking/savings account lines of credit, past due utility bills, loans concerning repossessed vehicles and many other loans.

 

To learn more about using bankruptcy for debt assistance in Owatonna, MN after a divorce, contact Behm Law Group, Ltd. today at (507) 387-7200 or stephen@mankatobankruptcy.com.

A common misconception about bankruptcy in the United States is that the individuals or businesses that file will lose all their property. While it’s true that property can be at risk in any bankruptcy case, the fact is that the vast majority of individual filers don’t lose a single piece of property in a liquidation, Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  In the vast majority of cases, all people lose are their debts.  This is largely because of the exemptions filers can claim to protect their property from the liquidation process and because of filers’ financial conditions prior to bankruptcy. For individual consumers, Chapter 7 is the liquidation process the bankruptcy code provides. If you’re considering filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Luverne, MN, or the surrounding areas, Behm Law Group Ltd. provides legal protection and guidance throughout the process.

 

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a liquidation process that works to discharge debts in exchange for the sale or liquidation of non-exempt assets. However, because of the situation most people are in when they file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and because of the available bankruptcy exemptions, individuals will probably not lose any property to the Chapter 7 liquidation process.

 

Situation: In order to qualify for Chapter 7, filers need to pass the Means Test, which measures your debt-to-income ratio. If this measurement is lower than the state median or average for a household of similar size, you’ll be eligible for Chapter 7. This generally means you have a low income or you have a lot of debt that “outweighs” a middle to upper-middle class income. If this is the case, you probably don’t own much property of high value. You may have a house, a car or two, other common items like appliances and furniture, and maybe even some valuable jewelry or tools in your name, but these items often fit into the range of monetary values set by the bankruptcy exemptions.

 

Exemptions: When you file for bankruptcy, the goal of the process is not to devastate your finances or have you lose all your property, but instead to provide you with permanent debt relief while remaining fair to your creditors. This means that there are exemptions you can claim to protect your property up to certain values. Exemptions keep those properties from being vulnerable to the liquidation process.  In Minnesota, filers can claim the exemptions provided under Minnesota state law or the federal bankruptcy exemptions provided under the bankruptcy code, but they cannot mix and match between the two. The current exemption amounts filers can claim often cover the values of most people’s properties. Additionally, in some cases, exemption amounts can be doubled when spouses file jointly.

 

Because of the available exemptions and because filers who qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy often don’t own a lot of high-value property, most filers will not lose any property or very little property to the liquidation process. If you’re planning on filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Luverne, MN, or other communities in the area, our attorneys can help you protect as much property as possible and work through a successful case. Contact Behm Law Group Ltd. today by calling (507) 387-7200 or emailing stephen@mankatobankruptcy.com.

We all have many financial obligations to meet each month, from car payments and mortgages to health insurance and retirement funds. For many households, meeting those obligations is difficult, and since the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the poverty rate spiked from 9.3% in June to 11.7% in November of the same year. Small business owners had their own troubles in the pandemic with statewide shutdowns dramatically decreasing revenue. For those with accumulated debts and many other financial obligations they’re having a hard time paying, bankruptcy can be a source of long-term, effective debt relief. If you’re considering filing for Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Windom, MN, Behm Law Group, Ltd. can help you build a strong case for the most beneficial outcome.

For individuals and businesses alike, the most commonly filed kind of bankruptcy is Chapter 7 liquidation. This chapter works to discharge debts in exchange for the liquidation/sale of the filer’s non-exempt assets. Individual filers are typically able to protect all of their property with the exemptions provided under state law or under the bankruptcy code.  At worst, exemptions will protect the equity or value a bankruptcy filer has in one’s home, car, appliances, items for their jobs/business, and other various properties.

In a business case, the process of Chapter 7 bankruptcy sometimes results in the shutdown of business operations. Businesses organized as corporations or LLC’s are not able to claim exemptions in bankruptcy.  Therefore, when a business files for bankruptcy relief, all the business assets will be liquidated or sold by the chapter 7 trustee. For a struggling business, the question can become whether it should either file for bankruptcy relief or liquidate/sell its assets and use the proceeds to directly work with its creditors to settle its debts.

Benefits of a business liquidating its assets on its own:

• The process will be private
• The business won’t have to pay bankruptcy filing fees or bankruptcy attorney fees
• The business can choose which debts it will repay first and how much each creditor gets from the liquidation of the assets
• The business can generally prioritize the payment of personal loans to friends and relatives
• It’s likely that the business will get more value from the liquidation/sale of its own assets than having the assets liquidated in a bankruptcy because the business would have more control over the selling process and there would not be any funds paid to a chapter 7 trustee from the sale of the assets

Benefits of filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy:

• Liquidation/sale will be done more quickly
• One’s personal assets generally won’t be vulnerable in a Chapter 7 business case unless one’s business is a sole proprietorship or a partnership
• The business receives the benefit of the automatic stay on creditor action during the bankruptcy which prevents creditors from employing or continuing collection activities
• Business bankruptcy typically won’t affect your personal credit
• The liquidation process is handled through the bankruptcy court, so you have no responsibility in finding buyers or distributing repayment to creditors.  The chapter 7 trustee takes care of all such details.
• The court also administers and governs any interaction between you and your creditors so the process will be as fair as possible
• There is complete finality when the bankruptcy process is over.  No creditors will be able to sell any of their claims to debt purchasers.

If you’re personally liable for your business debts–for example, if you own a sole proprietorship or partnership–you may want to consider filing for bankruptcy and having the chapter 7 liquidation process address your personal and business debts together. With a partnership, however, it’s important to make sure your partner understands they’re still liable for their end of the business debts unless they also file for bankruptcy relief.

Whether you own a business or not and you’re considering filing for Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Windom, MN, contact Behm Law Group, Ltd. at (507) 387-7200 today or stephen@mankatobankruptcy.com.

 

 

If you are struggling to make debt payments on time or if trying to pay off debts has significantly damaged your quality of life, finding debt relief through bankruptcy might be the right choice. The most commonly filed type of bankruptcy is Chapter 7, which discharges debts in exchange for the liquidation of non-exempt assets. This means some of your property may be subjected to sale and the resulting sale proceeds may be paid over to your creditors. However, in the vast majority of chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, a person is able to protect all of his or her property.  Chapter 7 bankruptcy isn’t designed to leave filers destitute and without property to reorganize.  There are ways to protect your assets from liquidation. By asserting and taking advantage of the applicable bankruptcy exemptions, filing a reaffirmation agreement on a debt that is secured by some of your property, or by redeeming an asset by paying the present value of that asset to the creditor holding a secured lien on that asset, you can keep your home, car, appliances, and other important items. Behm Law Group, Ltd. provides protection and guidance for those filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Redwood Falls, MN and the surrounding areas. Our attorneys help you work through your petition to protect your assets from liquidation and to file a strong case for long-term, bankruptcy court enforced debt relief.

Each state has different bankruptcy exemptions that Chapter 7 bankruptcy filers can claim. The most current exemptions will protect the value in your home, car, household appliances, clothing, retirement accounts, life insurance policy proceeds, and many additional miscellaneous items.

Filers can also choose to redeem an asset in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition from a creditor that has a secured lien on that asset.  In order to redeem an asset, one must pay the asset’s present value to the secured creditor in one lump sum. The value of the property you want to redeem may be agreed upon between you and the creditor. If the creditor believes that the property is worth more than you do, you can present the matter to the bankruptcy court and the bankruptcy court will determine the appropriate value for the asset.

If you have the resources/funds to redeem an asset, it can be beneficial to your financial circumstances in many ways. Redeeming an asset makes the most sense if:

• The value of the property is less than the debt against it. If the subject debt has accumulated over time with missed payments, late fees, and interest, it makes sense to pay off the actual, present value of the property in a redemption rather than pay the total debt owed. For example, if you bought a car worth $15,000 in 2015 and the loan in 2021 has only been reduced to $10,000 but the value of the car has depreciated to $5,000, it makes more sense to pay the $5,000 value of the car than the $10,000 debt.
• If the asset works well and will be reliable going forward or if it is an asset that is unique, difficult to replace and is needed for your employment, trade or profession, such as specific mechanical tools or farming equipment or equipment used in construction, it makes sense to redeem the asset rather than invest time and energy looking for a new replacement.
• Sometimes it may be challenging to obtain a loan to purchase a vehicle or other asset after a bankruptcy.  In such circumstances, it makes sense for someone to use proceeds from a retirement account, use tax refunds or use the cash value that has been built up in a life insurance policy to redeem an asset.

To learn more about redemptions and filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Redwood Falls, MN and the local region, contact Behm Law Group, Ltd. today at (507) 387-7200 or stephen@mankatobankruptcy.com.

When you file for bankruptcy, information about all your debts, income, and properties must be disclosed in your bankruptcy paperwork. Documentation about your financial history as far back as six months to two years must be reviewed for any bankruptcy chapter. Any material inaccuracies or omissions of debts, income, and properties can be considered fraudulent and result in a dismissal of your case. Because of the strict and thorough documentation requirements for any bankruptcy petition, filing without the help of a professional can be difficult and risky. The guidance and protection Behm Law Group, Ltd. attorneys provide will help you file a successful petition and receive long-term debt relief through Chapter 12, Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy in St. Peter, MN.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the most filed for individual consumers and businesses alike. Chapter 7 works to liquidate non-exempt assets in exchange for a discharge of debts. The value of your non-exempt liquidated property is distributed among your creditors. Because a key part of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case is the liquidation of your non-exempt assets, it’s important to know how you can protect property from that process.

Protecting properties from liquidation is accomplished by asserting exemptions provided either under state law or under the bankruptcy code, but it can also be done through a reaffirmation agreement or through redemption.

1. Exemptions: Allotted exemptions vary by state.  In most states, you are allowed to claim the federal exemptions provided under the bankruptcy code instead of the exemptions provided by a particular state if the federal exemptions serve your situation better. Typical exemptions claimed protect the home, car, and household appliances, clothing, life insurance policies, jewelry and many other items from liquidation. Exemptions also change over time as incomes and costs of living are adjusted. A recent list of common Minnesota exemptions can be found here.
2. Reaffirmation agreement: In Chapter 7, if you are current on payments for a certain debt, such as your car loan, you can file a reaffirmation agreement to have that debt preserved or exempted out of the bankruptcy process. This basically leaves a debt as-is, meaning you can keep your property secured by the subject loan, but you still have to make payments on the debt as usual. More on reaffirmation agreements can be found here.
3. Redemption: Finally, you can protect a property from the liquidation process through redemption. You indicate that you wish to redeem a certain property item when you file your initial bankruptcy petition paperwork. You notify the court and the creditor that has a lien that you wish to keep a certain item of property.   Through redemption you must pay a secured creditor the present value for the property that serves as the creditor’s collateral.  Typically, that value is paid in one lump-sum payment to the secured creditor.  However, sometimes the issue of what constitutes present or current value for that asset will be disputed.  If you and the affected secured creditor disagree on that value, the issue is presented to the court at a redemption hearing and the court determines what constitutes the present or current value for the asset.

These ways of protecting a property from the liquidation process can become complex depending on the circumstances of each loan, property type, creditor, and much more. Behm Law Group, Ltd. can help you work through this and many other parts of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in St. Peter, MN. Contact us at (507) 387-7200 or stephen@mankatobankruptcy.com today to learn more.

 

Common law bankruptcy was established centuries ago to handle debtors that couldn’t repay their debts. In a successful economy, the best way to handle debts that can’t be paid by the borrower is with a bankruptcy system that stabilizes that debt load, returning consumers to the trade of goods and services while remaining fair to creditors with some form of repayment. Today, that foundational system is still in place with modern bankruptcy law. Contemporary bankruptcy systems can be highly complex, and because of this, it is highly recommended bankruptcy filers take advantage of the guidance an attorney can provide. At Behm Law Group, Ltd., our expert attorneys can help you work through a Chapter 13, Chapter 12 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Ulm, MN or the surrounding areas.

 

The U.S. bankruptcy code offers relief for the debtor and, sometimes, provides a return of some payment to creditors in two general ways: liquidation and discharge or reorganization and repayment. Chapter 13 and Chapter 11 were developed for individual and business debtors respectively to offer a restructuring of debts into a repayment plan that fits the filer’s income. Creditors are repaid but under different repayment terms that are more beneficial to the bankruptcy filer.

 

Chapter 7 bankruptcy, on the other hand, is reserved for filers who don’t have disposable income every month – surplus income after necessary living expenses are paid – and wouldn’t be able to work through a chapter 13 repayment plan.  Chapter 7 bankruptcy is also intended for those whose household incomes are below the state median income for a household of their size. Instead, Chapter 7 bankruptcy provides debt discharge by liquidating the filer’s non-exempt assets and providing that value to creditors. Filers will no longer be legally, contractually responsible in any way for a debt once it’s officially discharged by the court.  In the vast majority of chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, however, people are able to retain all of their property and all they lose are their debts.

 

When does discharge happen?

Discharge happens at the end of your Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, but only after you’ve met court requirements including:

 

1. filing all the necessary paperwork and schedules with your bankruptcy petition
2. given the court a correct and accurate documentation detailing your finances
3. paid the bankruptcy court filing fee
4. attended the meeting of creditors with the trustee
5. attended court-approved credit counseling and financial management courses

 

When you’ve met these requirements, the court will issue an order of discharge. While this order discharges your legal responsibility to pay your debts, the issuance of the discharge order doesn’t always mean that your case will be closed right away.  Sometimes, a bankruptcy case must remain open to allow the bankruptcy trustee to sell non-exempt assets (assets that you can’t retain) and disburse the resulting sale proceeds among your creditors. Additionally, in the event an adversary proceeding was filed, your case will remain open until the adversary proceeding has concluded.

 

The discharge order discharging your debts will be issued by the bankruptcy court about three to four months after your bankruptcy case is filed. The discharge order won’t list each debt that is discharged, but instead provides general information about the debts that are discharged and the debts that you may still have to pay, such as tax debts, child support debts, debts related to alimony, some student loans, etc.

 

Keep in mind that the court can revoke or deny a discharge if you are untruthful or did not correctly file your paperwork. To get the most out of your debt discharge and file a successful and accurate case for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Ulm, MN, contact Behm Law Group, Ltd. today at (507) 387-7200 or stephen@mankatobankruptcy.com.

The United States bankruptcy code is in place to discharge many different types of individual consumer and business debts.  However, some debts are more difficult to have discharged and some debts are not discharged in bankruptcy at all.  For example, there is a common misperception that student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.  While student loans are typically exempted from the general discharge a bankruptcy court grants a filer at the conclusion of a typical bankruptcy case, one can formally request the bankruptcy court to discharge student loans.  The process can be protracted and expensive, however, because one must hire a bankruptcy attorney to start a lawsuit against a student loan creditor in bankruptcy court.  The burden of proof is on the filer who is asking the bankruptcy court to discharge the student loan.  A filer must show that the student loan could cause the filer to experience an undue financial hardship going forward.  Common types of debt that are often not discharged through the bankruptcy process include alimony, child support, most tax debts, and debts resulting from personal injuries that someone may have caused while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Though there are whispers of changes to make it easier to discharge student loans in bankruptcy, the other aforementioned debts will likely remain excluded from discharge in any bankruptcy case. However, some of the more common debts that the majority of filers use bankruptcy to resolve include medical bills, mortgages, car loans, and credit card debts. At Behm Law Group Ltd., our attorneys can help you build a successful case for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Fairmont, MN, and the surrounding region. Behm lawyers will work with you from start to finish to help get your debts discharged and find long-term financial stability through the Chapter 7 bankruptcy process.

Most individual consumers in Minnesota have credit card debt. The average amount of credit card debt across the state since 2019 is around $6,000 to $30,000, but those who file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy can have anywhere between $3,000 and upward of $100,000. Since there is no debt limit in Chapter 7, filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the most effective solution for those with serious amounts of unsecured debts like credit card and medical debts.

The Chapter 7 bankruptcy process works to liquidate your non-exempt assets in exchange the discharge of your debts.  A discharge will vary on a case by case basis depending on debt types, but overall, credit card debt and other unsecured debts are discharged in full. In order to find out if you qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you need to take the Means Test, which determines whether your income is under or over the state median/average income for a household of similar size. If your income is lower, you qualify for Chapter 7 and you can start your bankruptcy petition.

Once you have made the decision to seek debt relief through the Chapter 7 bankruptcy process, it is not advisable for you to make further payments to most of your creditors because any debts to those creditors will be fully discharged. As soon as you find out that you qualify to file a Chapter 7 case and you’ve gotten the go-ahead from your lawyer, stop paying your credit card and other debts that you don’t want to keep. If you continue payments past that point, it will simply put you in a worse financial situation because you could be using that money for other, more productive purposes.

When you file your petition, an automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362 is imposed upon your creditors preventing them from initiating or continuing any collection actions against you. This means that those creditors will not be able to impose additional late fees against you as your case continues.  It also means that your creditors cannot harass or sue you. If any creditors start or continue collection actions against you, Behm Law Group bankruptcy attorneys are here to protect you and hold those creditors accountable in court by formally asking the court to hold them in contempt.

Thousands of Americans resolve their credit card and other debts through the  bankruptcy process. To learn more about filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Fairmont, MN with the help of a skilled attorney, call Behm Law Group Ltd. at (507) 387-7200 or email stephen@mankatobankruptcy.com.

 

 

 

 

 

The process of Chapter 7 bankruptcy works to liquidate the filer’s non-exempt assets, distribute the value to creditors, and provide a discharge of debts to the filer. In 2005, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act established stricter regulations for Chapter 7 cases. These regulations were intended to make it more difficult to commit bankruptcy fraud without repercussions when filing a Chapter 7 case.

Qualifying for Chapter 7 bankruptcy today means passing the Means Test, completing pre-bankruptcy requirements, and filing a bankruptcy petition that accurately represents your financial situation. With the help of Behm Law Group, Ltd., you can build a strong, successful case for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Redwood Falls, MN and the surrounding area.

When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee assigned to your case will review your financial records, both to cross-check the representations made on your bankruptcy documents and to determine if you qualify for bankruptcy relief. Because some of your financial records will be under review and because bankruptcy debt relief is intended to benefit only an honest and forthright filer, there are several actions to avoid before you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy:

• Favoring a creditor: Choosing to pay more to one creditor over another is considered a “preferential transfer”.  It could result in the trustee suing that creditor, recovering what you paid the creditor and evenly splitting that amount between all of your creditors. Generally, you want to show that you have acted with fairness to all of your creditors and that you have done everything you can do to repay your debts in an ordinary fashion.
• Transferring assets: If you transfer any asset out of your name to someone else before filing for bankruptcy relief and then don’t disclose that transfer in your bankruptcy paperwork you will be deemed to have committed a “fraudulent transfer”, even if you made the transfer without any bad intent. While such a “fraudulent transfer” generally won’t be considered a criminal act in most cases, it could result in the denial of a bankruptcy discharge and the trustee could sue the person you transferred the asset to in order to undo the “fraudulent transfer” and recover the asset.
• Credit card purchases: Credit card debt is included in your bankruptcy case, and is almost always fully discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. If you are using your credit card for anything not considered a necessity (food, gas, etc.) before filing, however, you could be deemed to be acting with fraudulent intent by purposefully adding to the debts you know will be discharged. A good example of this would be charging a vacation to Europe or Hawaii on a credit card and then filing for bankruptcy relief a month later.  Under such a scenario, the credit card company could sue you in bankruptcy court and ask the bankruptcy court to except or exclude the debt from the discharge granted to you at the end of your case.
• Receive future payments: If you are aware that you will receive future payments while your case is still open, you will have to report those future payments and such future payments could be seized by the chapter 7 trustee and used to pay your creditors.  A good example of this is if someone passes away within 180 days of the filing of your bankruptcy case and you inherit money or property.   If this happens you must report it to the bankruptcy trustee and to your attorney.  If you fail to report it, the trustee could ask the bankruptcy court to revoke or deny any debt relief that you would otherwise receive.
• Sue someone: If you have the right to sue someone for personal injury or property damage, (vehicle accident, someone else’s tree falling on your house etc.) you will have to disclose any such claims in your bankruptcy petition.  Sometimes, the trustee will assist you and your attorney in resolving the claims.  Sometimes, any settlement proceeds will be able to be fully protected/retained.  Sometimes, some of the settlement proceeds will have to go to the trustee for the benefit of your creditors.  If you have the right to sue someone, it is essential that you disclose this to your bankruptcy attorney before   your bankruptcy case is filed so that you and your attorney can determine how to properly disclose and prosecute the claim and protect as much of the resulting settlement proceeds as possible.

To learn more about filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Redwood Falls, MN, contact Behm Law Group, Ltd. today at (507) 387-7200 or stephen@mankatobankruptcy.com.