Preparation is the key for success when filing bankruptcy in Florida. The best bankruptcy cases go unnoticed as debtors glide through the system without attracting attention to receive a full discharges in record time. Luck is not involved. Planning began months before filing.
The most successful filers know something that you don’t. Small lifestyle changes may alter means test income and expenses before filing. Well-planned strategic changes will have a dramatic effect on the results of the means test. With a few weeks or months to plan, creating $300 improvement on the bankruptcy means test calculation will save $18,000 in wasted Chapter 13 payments. Just as easily, many people avoid Chapter 13 altogether and may file Chapter 7 when understanding the test procedure. Timing is critical.
2010 Bankruptcy Strategies and the Means Test Explained
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Recent Notable Opinions of the Supreme Court of The United States:
Kontrick v. Ryan, No. 02-819 (2004), Argued November 3, 2003, Decided January 14, 2004, CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT. A creditor in Chapter 7 liquidation proceedings has 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors to file a complaint objecting to the debtor's discharge. Fed. Rule Bankruptcy Proc. 4004(a). The bankruptcy court may extend that period for cause on motion filed before the time has expired. Fed. Rule Bankruptcy Proc. 4004(b). Reinforcing Rule 4004(b)'s restriction on extension of the Rule 4004(a) deadline, Rule 9006(b)(3) allows enlargement of the time for taking action under Rule 4004(a) only to the extent and under the conditions stated in that rule, i.e., only as permitted by Rule 4004(b). Held: a debtor forfeits the right to rely on Rule 4004 if the debtor does not raise the Rule's time limitation before the court considers a creditor's objection to discharge. Only Congress may determine a lower federal court's subject matter jurisdiction. U.S. Const., Art. III, Sec. 1. The Code establishes objections to discharges as core proceedings within the courts' jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 157(b)(2)(J). Congress did not include time constraints within the Code. As Bankruptcy Rule 9030 states, the Bankruptcy Rules shall not be construed to extend or limit the jurisdiction of the courts. The filing deadlines prescribed in Rules 4004 and 9006(b)(3) are claim-processing rules that do not determine subject matter jurisdiction.
In re: Jorge R. Arispe, Case Number 01-42962-BKC-RAM, the Florida Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District held that a debtor who maintains residency in Florida, but who is not domiciled within Florida, is entitled to utilize the Federal Exemptions provided by 11 U.S.C. 522 in a Florida bankruptcy proceeding, despite the unavailability to residents who live within the state when filing Florida bankruptcy. Specifically, the debtor's lawyer revealed the debtor in this case was not domiciled within any state within U.S. borders during the 180 days before the petition was filed. Therefore, the provision of 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(2)(A) deference to state opt-out can not be initiated in a Florida bankruptcy proceeding. The operation and empowerment of the Florida bankruptcy opt-out statute used by the dentor's lawyer in this case, Fla.Stat. 220.20, is dependent upon authority conferred by 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(2)(A) which requires the debtor's domicile has been located for the 180 days immediately preceding the date of the filing of the petition, or for a longer portion of such 180-day period than in any other place.
The resources we chose to list pertain in some way to filing Florida Bankruptcy, whether laws, discharge, reorganization or other topics . Vast areas of law apply to Florida Bankruptcy case proceedings and are enforced by the courts within each case. As new Florida Bankruptcy laws are enacted each year, the scope of this website continues to grow.
