File this under “what not to do” if you’re filing a consumer bankruptcy case: “Forget” to list your Rolex watch on the bankruptcy schedules. Brian Sullivan, a debtor from Maine, found this out the hard way recently when the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied his discharge. (In other words, he got nothing out of [...]

There are basically two types of life insurance contracts that people purchase for themselves and loved ones. Term insurance is the simplest. You pay a monthly premium, and if you die young your beneficiary gets a stated benefit. Term insurance has no value of its own (until you’re dead, anyway), and can’t be cashed in [...]

The new Massachusetts bankruptcy exemptions, which were introduced in early April, seem to have been accepted by the bankruptcy community without much fuss. I know I filed several cases using Massachusetts bankruptcy exemptions and have had no trouble at all — the cases flew right through the system. When the changes took effect, for the [...]

If you are expecting (or at least hoping for) a settlement in a personal injury case from a car accident or a slip-and-fall, etc., it won’t always prevent you from filing a bankruptcy case, if you need to do that as well. The federal bankruptcy exemption list allows you to keep up to $15,000 in [...]

If you are receiving — or expect to receive in the future, disability benefits, you are not prevented from filing a bankruptcy case. There are two common sources for disability payments, social security and private insurance companies. Both types are covered by federal bankruptcy exemptions. The right to receive social security payments is exempt under [...]

After the holiday weekend, in a bit of a light mood, I thought I would take a look at some of the more obscure items on the list of Massachusetts bankruptcy exemptions. The Massachusetts exemption scheme is reasonably kind to small farmers, allowing them to keep post-bankruptcy, “two cows, 12 sheep, 2 swine and 4 [...]

With the change in Massachusetts state law that went into effect earlier in April, Massachusetts residents have a few new arrows in their quiver if they need to go to bankruptcy court. One of the most important of these is that Massachusetts now has a “wild-card” exemption, just like federal law (and New Hampshire law, [...]

Massachusetts legislators recently increased the bankruptcy exemption for automobiles, but the new law doesn’t stop there. The new law, signed by the governor last week, and slated to take effect in early April, also allows debtors who use the Massachusetts bankruptcy exemptions to keep up to $2,500 in a savings or checking bank account when [...]

Governor Deval Patrick has now signed into law a long awaited provision increasing the automobile exemption that Massachusetts debtors can claim when filing for bankruptcy. Under the new law, Massachusetts debtors can keep automobiles in which they have up to $7, 500 in equity when they file a bankruptcy case. This is an increase from [...]

It’s not a done deal yet, but there are possible changes coming down the pike for Massachusetts debtors in the form of updated bankruptcy exemptions under state law. The most important of the changes raises the exemption allowed for equity in an automobile from a measly $700 to a more modern level of $7,500. For [...]