Ask Ms. Ps & Qs

This week Trustee Bronitsky brings subscribers an excellent checklist on conducting 341’s – yes, we know, unless you are new to consumer bankruptcy practice you’ve been doing them for years but chances are you too need this reminder!!

Community property works differently in bankruptcy. I probably don’t have to tell you that. On the issue of assets and debts, community property is pretty straightforward. All of the community property comes into the estate upon the commencement of a bankruptcy case, even when only one spouse files. §541(a)(2). Every creditor with a right to be paid from the community can file a claim, regardless of which spouse incurred the debt. §101(7). So creditors of the nonfiling spouse are proper claimants in the filing spouse’s bankruptcy case. If the bankruptcy estate contains separate property as well, §726 creates a distribution scheme that segregates community assets from separate property assets in paying community and non community debts. So far pretty straightforward. Right?

On Thanksgiving, I’m mindful of how precious the American approach to insolvency is.

“I tend to believe that . . . attorneys are worried about . . . office looks like, key word/website optimization and the like. As a result, consumer bankruptcy attorneys fail to focus on referral sources. . . . Before costs, he or she needs to worry about a steady stream of paying clients.” See also: Personal Injury Attorney’s Duty of Reasonable Inquiry of a Client’s Bankruptcy This is a free resource you can share when contacting PI attorneys for referrals.