What, When, Where &
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50 State Bankruptcy Exemption LawsThe state bankruptcy exemptions (also known as asset protection laws) show you the bankruptcy property exemption laws for your state Washington, New York 2011 exemption changes. Free Means Test CalculatorA free bankruptcy means test calculatorapplies the local income and expense deduction standards for your state, county and metropolitain area to help you determine whether you pass the "means test" for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. New Means Test Median Income Standards rise nationwide by 3.16% on May 1, 2012 . Bankruptcy Lawyers Serving Your Zip CodeWant help? The local bankruptcy servicespage uses your zip code to connect you with local credit counsellors, lawyers and other service providers who can help you if need want advice or help with the filing process.
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LegalConsumer.com :: Free Bankruptcy Information, Means Test Calculator, Bankruptcy Exemption Laws
Bankruptcy Info for Your
Zip Code
Thursday, May 17th, 2012
We do not ask any identifying information other than a zip code.
Bankruptcy Info for Your Zip Code
About LegalConsumer.com
Congress changed the bankruptcy laws to make it harder for people to file. This website makes it easier.
The "Bankruptcy Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" (BAPCPA) is a bad law. Some lawyers and law professors have taken to calling it the "Bankruptcy Abuse Reform Fiasco" (BARF). It's based on false assumptions about why people get into financial trouble and imposes additional rules and paperwork on people already overwhelmed by bad luck and unpayable debt.
Despite these new obstacles, bankruptcy law still provides valuable benefits to those who need it. It helps you get on with your life. Indeed, "getting on with your life" is the whole point of bankruptcy -- to put your debts behind you and go forward with a "fresh start." This website helps you learn about the benefits of bankruptcy and how to obtain them. It lists relevant and affordable products and services that can help you file
for bankruptcy with a minimum of expense and hassle.
Information is not advice. Although this website will give you a lot of information about bankruptcy law and procedure, it does not -- and cannot -- tell you, specifically, how this information applies to your exact situation. Nor can it advise you which course of action is right for you.
Also, I attempt to keep this information up to date, but you are responsible for confirming its accuracy before relying on it. This website is intended as a supplement to other materials, such as the book I co-author.
The listings of bankruptcy products and services are not endorsements. They are intended to expose you to the full range of tools and services that can help you file for bankruptcy. Think of these listings as a phone book, not a referral. It is up to you to evaluate the quality of those products or services and make your own purchasing decisions. If there are third-party reviews of products or services, I attempt to quote or link to them.
Remember to bookmark this website if you have found it helpful so far. You won't find a more comprehensive collection of bankruptcy resources and information anywhere on the Web. Make it your starting point for your bankruptcy research. And tell your friends.
Best of luck to you as you traverse your financial troubles.
Albin Renauer, RelationalVision, LLC
co-author
of How
to File For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (Nolo)
Welcome, users of Nolo's
How
to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
LegalConsumer.com helps you find local information and services
to help you file for bankruptcy.
If you don't own the book, you can still use this site and the free means test calculator.
Don't own a copy?
Learn more...
How to File For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (Nolo, 17th ed, 2011)
Buy or download now @
Nolo
(publisher)
- Designed to be "your legal companion" as you go through the bankruptcy process under the new laws.
- Takes you through the process of filing and explains the impact of the new bankruptcy laws.
- Step-by-step instructions cover the nuts and bolts of how to prepare and file each form, and alert you to situations that require a lawyer.
In Paperback and eBook (Adobe Reader)
Pub. Date: Oct 2011
Edition: 17th
Pages: 576 pp
ISBN: 9781413316339
Forms: 13 forms
Buy & download now @
Nolo
(publisher)
Press Reviews
| "Exceptionally clear."
The New York Times |
| "How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy advises on everything from how to file court papers to how to respond to threats from creditors.... A do-it-yourself bankruptcy book for people who can’t afford expensive lawyers."
Newsweek |
| "An in-depth guide to filing under Chapter 7, including state-by-state and federal exemptions as well as forms for do-it-yourself filers."
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine |
| "Can help you decide if bankruptcy is the right option for you." Detroit News |
| "A valuable, easy-to-understand workbook."
Los Angeles Times |
| "Includes clear instructions on when and how to fill out all the necessary forms, which assets you may legally keep, even advice on whether your case is complicated enough to make it worth your while to hire a lawyer."
Forbes |
| "The best [bankruptcy books] I know are published by Nolo."
Harry S. Gross, host of
“Speaking of Your Money” |
| "Covers all the recent changes to the bankruptcy law, and shows you how to get through the entire process with the least damage."
Accounting Today |
Customer Review
| "I bit the bullet, and purchased Nolo's How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. I represented myself in court and I was granted a discharge of all debts five months later."
Danielle A.,
Richmond, VA |
Buy & Download now: Nolo (publisher)
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy:
Keep Your Property & Repay Your Debts Over Time
(10th ed, 2010)
Are you behind on your mortgage, taxes or other bills? Are creditors threatening foreclosure or repossession? Consider Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which can provide you an affordable repayment plan -- and let you keep your house, car and other property
In Paperback and eBook (Adobe Reader)
Pub. Date: May 2010
Edition: 10th
Pages: 496 pp
ISBN: 9781413310696
Forms: 29 forms
List Price: 39.99
Buy now: Nolo
(publisher)
Press Reviews
| "In Nolo’s usual thorough fashion, here is a guide to an alternative to the typical Chapter 7 Bankruptcy."
Orange County Register |
| "An excellent book that can guide you through the [Chapter 13] process."
Forbes Magazine |
| "Chapter 13 Bankruptcy will save you a fortune in attorney fees and confusion."
The Midwest Book Review |
| "This is the best book going if you choose to file alone or if you want background on the Chapter 13 process."
Attorney Gary Klein,
co-author of Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice |
| "An excellent resource..."
Consumers Digest |
| "Contains many tear-out forms, federal and state exemptions charts, and the most recent legal documents and instructions on how to fill them out. "
Reference & Research Book News |
Buy now: Nolo (publisher)
Bankruptcy by Keyword
- $200 clunker allowance
- 100% FMV
- 910 loans
- alimony
- Applicable commitment period
- attorneys fees
- automatic stay
- autos
- bankruptcy
- bankruptcy petition preparers
- Best interest of creditors test
- BPPs
- business expenses
- car loans
- chapter 13
- chapter 13 plan
- Chapter 13 Plan Modification
- Chapter 7
- child support
- CMI
- Constitution
- consumer debt
- conversion
- cramdown
- credit counselling
- current monthly income
- deficiency judgment
- dismissal
- equity
- exemptions
- expenses
- foreclosure
- Hamilton v Lanning
- hardship discharge
- hiding assets
- income
- insurance
- IRS standards
- judicial liens
- Lanning
- lien avoidance
- lien stripping
- liens
- Liquidation Test
- luxury expenses
- marital adjustment
- means test
- means test allowances
- means test exclusion
- median income
- mortgage modification
- mortgages
- non-consumer debt
- Nondischargeble
- preferences
- priority
- procedure
- Projected disposable income
- proof of claim
- Ransom
- reaffirmation
- redemption
- rent
- retirement income
- ride-through
- Schwab v Reilly
- secured debt
- social security
- special circumstances
- student loans
- support of family members
- surrender
- taxes
- Tenancy by Entirety
- totality of circumstances
- trustee
- unemployment compensation
- valuation
- vehicle allowance
- vehicle operation expenses
- vehicle-ownership deduction
LegalConsumer.com mourns the untimely passing of Stephen Roger Elias, author of numerous consumer law books on bankruptcy and related topics, and my coauthor of Nolo's How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.
A pioneer and tireless advocate in the effort to make law accessible to everyone, Steve's giving spirit helped thousands of people in the communities he touched.
Steve's fearless optimism was an inspiration to many, including me, and was a major factor in my decision to "go for it" and launch LegalConsumer.com in 2005.
He is sorely missed.
- Albin Renauer, LegalConsumer.com
In loving memory of a consumer law pioneer:
Stephen Roger Elias
7/6/1941 - 12/29/2011
Consumer Bankruptcy In the News...
What we're reading at LegalConsumer.com
- Average Debt of Private Law School Grads Is $125K; It’s Highest at These Five Schools
ABA Journal - 3/28/2012 (Bt Debra Cassens Wiess)"The average education debt for law grads at private schools last year was nearly $125,000, while the average for grads of public law schools was more than $75,700, according to new figures released by the ABA.
The debt load increased 17.6 percent from the prior year for private law grads and 10 percent for public law grads, the Daily Journal (sub req.) reports. In 2001-02, the average debt was only about $46,500 for public law school grads and about $70,000 for private law school grads." ...more... - 10 Law Schools That Lead to the Most Debt
U.S. News & World Report - 3/22/2012 (Ryan Lytle)"Among 195 ranked law schools surveyed annually by U.S. News, 191 reported the average indebtedness of graduating students in 2011, the most recent figures available. Overall, law students graduated with an average of $100,433 in debt, though at some of the schools with the most heavily debt-laden students, graduates faced an average debt of more than $50,000 higher.
Graduates of the California Western School of Law graduated in 2011 with an average indebtedness of $153,145—a reported figure higher than any other law school in the country. In comparison, graduates of Georgia State University entered the field with an average debt of $19,971—the lowest average debt load in the country among law schools." ...more... - Why Student Loans Should Be Dischargeable in Bankruptcy (Testimony of Deanne Loonin in US Senate Hearing)
US Govt - 3/20/2012 (Deanne Loonin, NCLC)"As evidenced by the Obama Administration’s higher education goals, it is in our national interest for more people to get post-secondary education or training. If public policies only encouraged safe choices, few would borrow to go to college. Few would start businesses either. Most businesses fail, even those started by those who have previously run successful businesses. Yet we have decided as a society that we want people to start businesses even if this means writing off some bad debt. The same principle should apply to education." ...more...
- Consumer Protection Bureau Opens Student Loan Complaint System
New York Times - 3/9/2012 (LILY ALTEVENA)"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced on Monday that it had opened a student loan complaint system for issues regarding student loans. The system was put in place for students to voice their issues with lenders.
" ...more... - Study Finds that 2005 BAPCPA Bankruptcy Law Changes Drove Up Costs for No Benefit
ABI World - 2/15/2012 ()"Study finds that BAPCPA made the process more expensive for debtors, but resulted in no gains for creditors." ...more...
- Economics lesson: The student-debt dilemma
PBS Need to Know - 2/10/2012 ()"The unemployment rate for recent college grads – those under 25 — has been stuck at more than nine percent for three years running. But among older college grads, the unemployment rate has been under five percent during that whole time. So the question is this: at a time of high unemployment and relentlessly rising tuition, is a college education worth the expense? And if you decide it is, what do you need to know to get a better, safer loan?" ...more...
- Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Say
New York Times - 2/9/2012 (By SABRINA TAVERNISE)"Education was historically considered a great equalizer in American society, capable of lifting less advantaged children and improving their chances for success as adults. But a body of recently published scholarship suggests that the achievement gap between rich and poor children is widening, a development that threatens to dilute education’s leveling effects." ...more...
- States Negotiate $26 Billion Agreement for Homeowners
New York Times - 2/8/2012 (By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ and SHAILA DEWAN)"After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of the nation’s biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly two million current and former American homeowners harmed by the bursting of the housing bubble, state and federal officials said. It is part of a broad national settlement aimed at halting the housing market’s downward slide and holding the banks accountable for foreclosure abuses." ...more...
- Cordray outlines strategy in first speech as consumer bureau head
SF Chronicle - 1/19/2012 (Kathleen Pender)"In prepared remarks, Cordray talked about the bureau’s “know before you owe” campaign, which aims to simplify the fine print in financial disclosures." ...more...
- Banks Move Ahead To Increase Overdraft Protection Fees
Huffington Post - 1/18/2012 (Catherine New)"The cost of not having enough money just got steeper.
The median overdraft fee banks charge customers surged to $30 from $27.50 last year, according to a study released Tuesday by Moebs Services, an economic research firm that tracks pricing at financial services companies. The survey looked at overdraft fees from more than 2,500 banks and credit unions of all sizes across the country.
" ...more...
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