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:
Lamie v. United States, No. 02-693 (2004), Argued November 10, 2003, Decided January 26, 2004, CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT. Prior to 1994, 11 U.S.C. 330(a) authorized courts to award trustees, examiners, professional persons employed under 11 U.S.C. 327, or debtors' attorneys reasonable compensation for services rendered. In 1994, Congress amended 11 U.S.C. 330(a) by deleting or to the debtor's attorney from what was 11 U.S.C. 330(a)and is now Sec. 330(a)(1). This change was apparently a legislative drafting error. The section is missing or that infects its grammar. And its inclusion of attorney in what was Sec. 330(a)(1) and is now Sec. 330(a)(1)(A) defeats the parallelism between current Secs. 330(a)(1) (trustee, examiner, or professional person) and 330(a)(1)(A) (trustee, examiner, professional person, or attorney). In this case, the petitioner filed an application seeking attorney's fees under new 11 U.S.C. 327330(a)(1) for the time he spent working on a behalf of a debtor in a chapter 7 proceeding. The Government objected. Petitioner admitted he was not employed by the trustee or approved by the court , but nonetheless contended new 11 U.S.C. 330(a)(1) authorized a fee award because he was a debtor's attorney. In denying the petitioner's application, the Bk. Court, District Court, and 4th Circuit all held 11 U.S.C.330(a)(1) does not authorize payment of attorney's fees to debtors' attorneys unless the attorney has been appointed under Sec. 327. Held: under the Code's plain language, Sec. 330(a)(1) does not authorize compensation awards to debtors' attorneys from estate funds unless employed under 11 U.S.C.327.
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 locatedfor 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 list relate in some way to filing Florida Bankruptcy, whether laws, discharge, reorganization or other topics . Vast bodies of law apply to Florida Bankruptcy proceedings and are incorporated by the courts within each case. As new Florida Bankruptcy laws are enacted each year, the scope of this website continues to grow.
