Bankruptcy Attorneys and Debt Reorganization in San Diego

7 Eligibility

The first step in determining eligibility for chapter 7 relief is comparing your gross yearly income to the median income according to the National Census Bureau standards for you location and household size. If you are under the "median" you have met the first step.

A second but more difficult step, is making a preliminary determination as to whether your income and household expenses allow you to liquidate with ease under the "totality of the circumstances" test. This is a legal-equitable determination that only a lawyer experienced in bankruptcy law can properly evaluate. At Andersen & Andersen, we can hear your side, and help you to build a case to meet the "totality of the circumstances" test.
disposable income in bankruptcy

Exemptions

In a Chapter 7 case, the trustee collects the property of the estate, reduces it to cash, and pays claimants in a prescribed order. In a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, most debts (with the exception of child support, alimony, certain taxes, and other non dischargeable debts) are eliminated, and the debtor generally loses only non-exempt property.

Although Chapter 7 is a liquidation most people who go into it keep everything. A lawyer with ten or more years experience in bankruptcy law can often make this happen.

Scheduling exemptions involves manipulating alternative contingency exemptions so that you keep as much of your property as possible while obtaining your bankruptcy court discharge. California has a broad range of property exemptions that may cover most or all of your assets when properly applied.

meetig with the bankruptcy trustee

Pre-Bankruptcy Planning

Assuming that we have all of the correct information at our disposal, we can often help you avoid some common pitfalls that occur when people prepare themselves for bankruptcy.

When you plan for bankruptcy yourself you usually make the wrong moves. Common mistakes people make include preferential transfers, loading up credit cards, entering into pre-bankruptcy marital equalization agreements, turning exempt assets into non-exempt assets, cashing out life insurance policies, closing 401K pensions, giving their homestead to relatives and depending on their credit union, among others. We can help you make the right moves for your bankruptcy and minimize the downside, while giving your life back to you, and not the creditors.

bankruptcy line

The Meeting of the Creditors

Every one who files a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case must attend a court hearing called the "Meeting of the Creditors". This is the time for the Chapter 7 trustee to examine the bankrupt individual concerning the petitions and schedules that they filed with the court.

One of our lawyers represents you at this hearing. Because of the large number of cases that we have filed we are thoroughly familiar with each trustee and his particular policies. We thoroughly prepare for each hearing we attend. As a result we earn the good favor of the trustee's by making their job easy. It also means that you don't have to come back a second time and third times for adjourned hearings.

Bankruptcy Discharge

A bankruptcy discharge provides the individual with financial freedom that they seek when they file their case. The bankruptcy stay becomes a permanent injunction at the time of the discharge. No one can collect or enforce a debt that has been discharged in a bankruptcy proceeding.