It is that time of year.  We are all making resolutions to be fitter, lose weight, save more money, be happier, the works.

We are all making promises to ourselves.  This is great.  It’s wonderful when people resolve to improve themselves.  Better yet, this is the only time of year that we seek a plan.  EVEN BETTER.  Without a plan a goal is just an idea.  If you don’t have a plan for how to get there, it is going to be difficult if not impossible.

So I’m here to help with your financial goals.  You want to get out of debt, save more money, maybe get solvent in such a serious way that you can afford a new splurge.  Awesome!  But how do you do it?  Where do you start?

I say you start from the beginning, a very good place to start.  So I present to you the New Year, New Financial You blog series!  I am going to post articles throughout the month of January on how to start cleaning up your finances,  how to set a goal, stay on budget, save, deal with obstacles and knowing when you get to splurge and when to walk away.  These are incredibly valuable skills that will take time, discipline and patience to develop — just like your weight loss and fitness resolution.

Even better, I am going to do them along with you to show you how to make them work!  As it turns out, bankruptcy attorneys have budgets too!  I will share savings tools, web and mobile applications I love and hate and programs I use in my home to stay on task and on budget.  I will share what works, what doesn’t, and how to adjust things to make them work based on my own experience in using these tools.

We will talk a lot about timing because, to be perfectly honest, I feel that timing is everything, particularly for pre and post bankruptcy clients.  For example, certain savings tools are great post bankruptcy when your goal is to save but not so great prior to a bankruptcy when the goal is different.

Currently the plan for the articles will go as follows:

Assessing the Status Quo

Setting Your Goal

Budgets, Budgets, Budgets

Tools for Saving

Dealing with Financial Obstacles

When to Spend for Fun!

Requests for additional topics are welcome, diversions from this subject will happen!  I am more often than not inspired by what I hear in the courtroom, from colleagues, from clients, and things I see in social media.

So here we go.  New Year, New You, Happier Savings Balance.

Happy New Year!!!!

 

Bankruptcy can be tough.  But it can also teach hard lessons.  Like how a budget an emergency savings is mission critical.

Maybe you had those and your bankruptcy had nothing to do with them.  You had a budget and your emergency savings wasn’t enough for an extended job loss.  Stuff happens.  That is why we are here.  You can skip this post and come back for the next one.

But for those of you who do need some help;

BUDGETING 101!

First – Know when you need to ask for help.  If you have no clue even where to start or what to do, call a professional!!!!  I promise you that you won’t regret the fee for getting set up with one of these folks if you have no clue where to start.

LearnVest offers an inexpensive 1 on 1 with a certified financial planner that will help you rebuild following a bankruptcy case.  A good accountant or a local financial planner is an option too but they can be cashy.  My experience is millenials (I am one so I can say it) prefer LearnVest, everyone else seems to prefer brick or mortar.  Do what works for you.

So let’s say you don’t think you need help.  Ok.  Here is my budgeting set up.

1.  Establish how much money you net each month.

2.  Establish your monthly bills.

3.  Establish your non-monthly bills.  These are things like car repairs, taxes, veterinary bills, etc.  I am perpetually forgetting that I have to pay flood insurance annually.  I was really proud of myself for having remembered and budgeted that this year.  Ask my husband, I won’t shut up about it.

4. Figure out what you are ACTUALLY spending on everything else.

This is a big one.  I am bolding this because it is sooooo big.  You must do this.  You must get out your bank statement and your credit card statement and see what you actually spend.  Mint.com is great for this if you want the computer to do the work for you.  This is not a skippable step.  If you do not do this part or do it and are NOT honest about it your budget will fail.  Big time.

Nobody knows how much they spend at Dunkin each month.  I repeat nobody.  I only just found out.  I am a little upset with myself about it.  I, of all people, should know better.

The easiest way to cut back on unnecessary expenses is to know where it is going.

So you have aggregated all this information.  What now?

Start an emergency savings account and a non-monthly savings account.  You can do them at your current bank or establish a high yield savings account.  Either is fine.  I like distance between me and my savings because I have no will power so I use a high yield online account that I have to really work to take money out of.  Whole days of delay.  It works for me.  Forces me to question what I am doing.

Ok so let’s look at your numbers.

Remember there is no magic number for how much you should save.  I have heard it all.  You should save 10%, 15%, 7% and it goes on and on and on and on. Do what works for you.  If that is 2%, do 2%, just do it.  The only rule I care about is the six month rule.  You should have six months of net salary set aside as an emergency fund.   This may feel like a lot.  I know it does. So bite it off a little at a time. Think of it as first, I am going to save one month, then two, than three.  Slowly but surely you will get there.  Treat this like a monthly fixed bill.  When you establish how much to put in, set an automatic deduction and forget about it.

Do the same thing with non-monthly.  Take that non-monthly number from above, divide by 12 and set the automatic deduction.

Bills – Pay them.  See if you can make cuts or decreases.  I know a lot of people cutting the cord with cable.  I have thought about it.  I have a toddler, so TV isn’t a thing that happens in our house.  When my contract is up, we are bailing out on cable.  It is an easy cut to make in our house.  I am sure there is an easy cut in your house.  Find it, cut it.

So now you are left with the leftover funds.  This is the money you are allowed to spend on groceries, etc.  Not a lot left for Dunkin runs right?  Here is the thing.  I love an iced coffee and a donut as much as anyone and I see nothing wrong with getting it once a week, but that five times a week you are doing (don’t pretend you aren’t)…that amounts to 64 bucks a month.  That’s right.  65 DOLLARS.  Multiply that by 12 and you are spending $775.00 a year on coffee.  My friends…that is a half of a Caribbean vacation.  And that is JUST your Dunkin habit.  I am betting there is a WHOLE VACATION in your misc spending that you could be cashing in?   (Also, how good is that swimsuit going to look when you have skipped the donuts and fast food for a whole year?)

Do you want to go to the Bahamas or eat another donut? 

I vote for the beach.  I printed a picture of a palm tree and taped above my computer today while I drank the last iced coffee I will have for a full week.

 

Interested in how we can help you get on the other side of a tough financial situation?  Give us a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out our online consultation form and we will call you!

I spend a lot of time on here writing about after a bankruptcy case.  I have been asked why?  Why does a person whose job is the actual mechanics of filing a bankruptcy case spend so much time talking about what happens when she is done?

Because my clients care about what happens when it is done.

For a Chapter 7 bankruptcy client that actual time spent prior to the case and inside the case is  short in the grand scheme of life, but the time after, that is the REST OF THEIR LIFE.  What happens after a case matters.

The answer to how does life work after a bankruptcy case is not an easy one.  It really depends on what you want to do and how you want to handle it.

I have clients that never want to see credit for the rest of their natural lives and others that cannot rebuild their credit fast enough.  The advice I give you before, during, and after your bankruptcy case is tailored to you and your goals specifically.   If you are a person that never wants to see credit again, I am going to talk to you about the importance of budgets, emergency funds, saving for non-monthly expenses, and the strategy behind a debt free lifestyle.  If you are a person that cannot wait to rebuild your credit we are going to talk about secured cards, car loans, and interest rates getting better with time and patience (and probably about savings too….I push that pretty hard with you guys after a bankruptcy case).

There is a life after a bankruptcy case and we will talk about how to move forward with it as part of your whole bankruptcy case.
Because it matters to you.

 

Interested in how my office can help you file a bankruptcy case?  Give us a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out our online consultation form and we will call you!

So your bankruptcy case has been over for a few years.  You did the hard work.  You saved and followed a budget and rebuilt your credit with a car loan and responsible credit card usage.

Good for you!

Now it is time.  The big leap.  Time to buy a home.

I know a lot of people out there that think buying a home after a bankruptcy case is an impossible task.  I promise, it isn’t.  It can and has been done.  MANY MANY TIMES.

The best part, I am here to help!

A lot of our clients call looking for documents and information on buying or refinancing a home.  We are happy to help out with giving you stuff that you may have misplaced but here are a few pointers for being ready without a call to my office.

1.  Keep a copy of your discharge somewhere safe.  YOU WILL NEED THIS.  Under no circumstances will you refinance or get a new mortgage without this document.  Put it somewhere it won’t get lost or destroyed.

2.  Keep the copies of your schedules that were provided to you when you did your credit counseling.  They will include the list of all debts and JUDGMENTS that were discharged.  Many times, the title company will come back wanting to know what the deal is with a judgment that flew under the radar and never got removed from the county record.  This schedule will clear it up quickly.  If you need a copy of a certificate of service showing notice let us know and we will get it to you.  In rare cases, we may need to do a motion in state court to remove it.  Call us or have your real estate attorney call us if this issue comes up so we can move quickly.

3.  Do not be afraid to call us if something seems off or funny.  If I have one more client call me and tell me they can’t get a mortgage refinanced because they never reaffirmed their original mortgage my head may explode.  The mortgage companies are trotting this one out a lot these days.  Let me be clear.  If you have made your payments they have a payment history and can clear you on that.  There is and never will be a need for you to reaffirm that mortgage.  On top of that, judges in New Jersey are EXTREMELY hesitant to sign reaffirmations of mortgages.    This is excuse no. 802 for a mortgage company to deny you for no apparent reason and is mostly commonly seen in refinancing applications.  CALL ME.  I will write a letter or talk to the person that needs talked to about this and help you clear it up.

This goes for anything that seems off yo you.  If it seems related to your bankruptcy case just call us.  We are happy to address questions and issues that your case may bring up in a later real estate closing.

 

Happy closing!  If you need us call us! We can get out documents or refer you to a good real estate attorney.

 

Concerned about your financial situation and owning a home someday?  Give us a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out our online consultation for me and we will call you!

Summer used to mean sun and fun.  Cold drinks, the beach, maybe even a vacation with kids.

But things went wrong.  You lost your job, got sick, divorced? Now all the expectation of summer is just making an already tough financial situation that much more overwhelming.

Outside of the holidays there isn’t a worse time to be struggling financially than the summer.  The pressure to go on an expensive vacation and entertain kids who are home and BORED is a lot to handle.  So how do you survive?

First, Breathe.  You will get through this.

Second, get an evaluation from a bankruptcy attorney.  My goal in every consultation is for you to leave my office with a game plan.  It may not be pretty, but I promise that if you know what is going to happen, the pressure starts to release almost immediately.   So what happens in a bankruptcy consultation:  We will sit down with you and go over your whole financial picture and tell you your options.  We will review the BEST option for you.  This may not be the one you want, but our job is to guide you down the BEST road for you.  If you think it is something you want to do, we will do a retainer and get started right away.

If you are in a Chapter 7 case in the summer, this will be quick and clean.

If you are in a Chapter 13 filing your summer is going to require a bit more planning.  We are going to put you on a budget that is fairly strict and you will have a can’t miss payment to the Trustee each month.  It will be important that you budget your summer around that.

Which leads me to the third way to survive the summer while cash strapped:

PLAN. PLAN.  PLAN.

The easiest way to cut costs in your budget is eating in.  This is great news in the summer.  Fire up the grill!  Who doesn’t love to sit on the back porch and eat?  Get a warehouse store membership, buy your meat in bulk, and spend the summer on pinterest trying new marinade recipes.  This is probably one of my favorite things to do in the summer.  I have relatives that want us to eat out every Sunday.  No.  Neither my waistline or my budget wants that.  I would much rather grill every Sunday at half the cost and with the bonus of DELICIOUS leftovers for lunches for the week.  Do you know what is better than leftover bbq ribs on a monday at lunchtime?  Nothing.  Nothing is.

Vacation?  THIS IS NEW JERSEY!  We have everything right here.  No plane rides or hotels required.  You can go to the beach, Sandy Hook charges per car, not per person.  The mountains are north and at the Gap.  Want to go to a theme park, Dorney Park and Six Flags are both in driving distance.  Save those soda cans and use the coupon!  I think QuickCheck has coupons for Balloon Fest out already.  New Jersey has so much to offer so try exploring at home.

Entertaining the kids: We get it.  We are parents here too.  It is hard to not be able to give them everything.  We want to so badly.  That being said, both of our kids would love nothing more than to just ride bikes at the park.  It is old school but they can’t get enough.  Throw a baseball in the yard or take the kids down to the river and go fishing.  Give your kids the gift of your time.  I love to garden with my son.  He is small so he mostly just plays with the dirt, but he is so happy about it and we get the bonus of inexpensive produce for the summer that we grew ourselves.  He also really enjoys being pulled around in his wagon at the local park and playing on the swings.  Both of those things are FREE.  I know that we live in an age where we think our kids need constant stimulation, but believe me when I say that sometimes a back to basics approach is both incredibly effective and inexpensive.  No 400 buck tablet required.

You will get through this.  You will be better on the other side of your bankruptcy filing.  Trust the process.  Trust yourself.  Know that the trip to Disney World can wait and it will be so much sweeter with this in your rear view mirror.

 

Want to talk to us about your financial situation.  Give me a call at 732-302-9600 or fill our our online consultation form and we will call you!

by Sarah J. Crouch

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the kids are home from school.  This is a recipe for summer fun or maybe summer financial disaster, especially if you are in a Chapter 13 case that was filed based on February expenses.

Think about it for a second:

Air conditioning bills go up.

If your kids are too old for daycare but too young to be home alone.  A Sitter? Camp?  Who can afford that?

And if you have to hear one more time about how Tommy’s family is going to Disney World…there will be consequences.

Did I mention the kids are home and you have to feed them three a day instead of two plus lunch at school?

Now hopefully you hired a savvy bankruptcy attorney who questioned whether you were going to have to pay for summer camp in the summer and listed it as a completely acceptable expense on your schedule I, knowing the Trustee was going to howl about it but willing to fight about it anyway, like us.  We may have also questioned how your utility bills changed throughout the year but much like Christmastime even the most prepared person goes into summer knowing it might get ugly.

So how can you help your budget survive the summer?  A few little changes can go a long way:

1.  Meal plan. 

This is one that I do all year because thanks to long hours helping you folks out I have a relationship with my crock pot.  (My family would literally starve or eat fast food everyday if it weren’t for this device.) I sit down on Saturday before heading out to the grocery store with my pinterest account and figure out what to make that week so that my family doesn’t die of chicken-induced boredom.  Make sure you plan each meal lest you fall victim to “ooops I didn’t plan lunch” and end up going out to lunch with your co-workers.

Bad at planning and making grocery lists.  Plantoeat.com  offers an EXCELLENT online tool for meal planning and creates a grocery list for you!  It costs about 30 bucks for a year or 3 bucks a month for the full version.  I don’t think they have a mobile app yet, but they do have a mobile site that is fairly easy to use.

2.  Eat Fresh and Stock Up

Fresh produce will never be cheaper than it is right now at your local farmer’s market.  Go to the farmer’s market.  Stock up and freeze what you can’t use immediately.  There are about a million websites that will teach you how to properly freeze and store vegetables.  (I do this a lot and dole them out in the winter thus helping out my winter produce budget).

3.  Plant a Kitchen Garden

Got a kid that loves to play in dirt…put in a garden.  This will keep you and the kids busy while providing food for the table and being GREAT for the environment.   I work a lot, but I still have a small container garden on my back porch that provides my house with the salad veggies my husband and I would otherwise spend a small fortune on.  Again, about a million websites out there that will teach you how to do this, if I can do it so can you.  It is cheap to get started and who knows, maybe you expand next year and the year after and your kid grows up to be a famous botanist!  (It could happen.)

4.  Staycations & Mini-breaks

So Tommy’s parents are taking him to Disney World, let him go sweat in Florida in August while stalking a 20 something dressed up as a mouse….I can’t put into words how much I DON’T want to do that….like ever…

If you are reading this it is very likely that you live in New Jersey.  Lucky you!  Want to go hiking, head up to New York or over to the Water Gap.  Want to go to the beach?  Great!  We have MILES OF THEM.  Thinking theme park?  Grab a few of those soda cans with coupons or one of the 1800 coupons for Great Adventure you are offered at the grocery store or quickchek and stay local.  I have heard Ocean City is a blast if you have young kids.  The money you save on travel can be spent on souvenirs, overpriced corn dogs, and a few extra trips to the destination of your choice.  Beaches offer badges so you can save some money if you plan on going often and I am certain Great Adventure has a season pass of some sort too.  Plus NJ has no shortage of street fairs or free/cheap festivals to attend over the summer.  Grab the Ledger on Saturday morning or get on NJ.com and check the Two Days section and I promise you will find something.

5. Utility Bills

The kids are home.  The tv is on more and in the last week you have probably put on the AC.  I am still holding out but losing ground slowly to the whole it is too hot to sleep argument….  This is going to get expensive if you aren’t careful.

The best tip I have seen to offset this is to just make the house comfortable rather than cool.  My AC and my heat are rarely set over or under 65-70 degrees, depending on the time of day as that dictates if anyone is even home.  It is good for the environment and I generally don’t have a lot of complaints from the family.

6.  Child Care & Camps

Child care is tough.  You have to work whether the kids are out of school or not.  The best thing you can probably do is talk to the neighbors.  Do they have a sitter?  Are they interested in sharing said sitter?  If they are, sit down with the sitter and make her a deal, she makes more money because she has more kids, but you save a bit by sharing the expense.  Everyone wins.

Camps….camps are tougher.  Not a lot of negotiating power, but the good news is you hired a GREAT bankruptcy firm, like us, that put this in your budget and you saved for it!  🙂

So try not to get too nervous.  You will survive summer in your bankruptcy plan.  It can be done!

Interested in how we can help you through your summer financial crisis?  Give us a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out our online consultation form and we will call you!

So many of my clients are worried about what will happen at their 341 hearing.

There are many reasons you are scared.  Many of you have never been to court.   The hearing is called the “Meeting of Creditors” so many of you think American Express is going to come interrogate you about every coffee you have ever purchased at a Starbucks.

Don’t worry.  Do not let this hearing keep you up at night.

Your hearing is not something to worry about.  You will be in a conference room with twenty people just like you, a trustee will be sitting at a conference table, they will ask you a series of questions that we have already sent you and aren’t designed to trick you, and you will leave afterwards and be DONE….

Unless of course any of the following apply to you:

1.  You have a private jet you failed to tell me about.

2.  You plan to wear a $25,000 engagement ring to the hearing.

3.  You transferred $25,000 to your brother’s checking account 4 days before you filed bankruptcy.

4. You deposited a signing or moving bonus of $20,000 to your checking account three days before you filed.

5. You were given a Jaguar as a birthday gift by a relative after you filed.

6.  You took a $50,000 second mortgage and went on a shopping spree three weeks before you filed.

7.  You took a personal loan from your credit union and went on a shopping spree before you filed.

8.  You continuously changed the name of your business in order to dupe a supplier into selling you more stuff when you owe them money.

9.  You have called my office and asked for permission to buy more jewelry on a Kay Jewelers card just one more time and want to know how long you need to wait to file to get to keep said jewelry without that being a problem.

So as you can see unless you were out doing naughty things before you filed a bankruptcy case you will probably be ok at your hearing and can get through your hearing and the close of your case fairly easily.

So try not to worry too much about your hearing, we will get you through.

It is that time again, the time when we all sit down with the accountant or the nice girl at the local tax prep place and figure it if we owe the government or if the government owes us.

Let’s start with my basic tax time rule:

A TAX REFUND IS NOT, I REPEAT NOT, A SAVINGS ACCOUNT.  YOU SHOULD NOT BE TREATING IT LIKE ONE.

I don’t like tax refunds.  A tax refund means you gave the government an interest free loan.  I am thrilled when my accountant comes back to me and says “You owe $300.00.”  That means that I got my math almost spot on.  I figured out, somehow, exactly how much I needed to give the IRS and gave them only that amount.  If you don’t owe, that money you are getting back, be it $500.00 or $5,000.00 was sitting in the government’s coffers earning interest for them and NOT YOU.  Why?  BECAUSE A TAX REFUND IS NOT A SAVINGS ACCOUNT!  Uncle Sam isn’t going to pay you interest.  Not going to happen.

So now is the time to ask your CPA if you should walk into HR and adjust those exemptions.  Me, I am a fan of taking your exemptions.  They are yours!  You are entitled to a little more money in your paycheck.  I am not saying walk into HR and take 17 exemptions (unless you have 17 kids…in which case you should also have a reality show).  Go into HR and tell the payroll person, I am married with two kids and adjust your W-4 to Married with three exemptions instead of single with zero.  It can make a real difference in your budget and you may find you have money leftover to save thanks to keeping your own money now instead of a $5,000 refund in April.

The best part, you may STILL get a refund, though slightly lower, depending on your circumstances.  In New Jersey we have such high property taxes, that when combined with our mortgage interest, sales tax, charitable contributions, medicals and kids, even the guy with 17 exemptions might still have a shot at a refund (seriously what would the property taxes be on a house that fits 17 kids in New Jersey…yikes…)

So have the chat with your accountant about whether adjusting your exemptions is right for you because TAX REFUNDS ARE NOT SAVINGS ACCOUNTS….which leads to my next point…

Some of my clients tell me, “But I am not a good saver” or “If I had it I would spend it”.  Ok.  So find a way to not do that.  My personal favorite is to make saving money super convenient, an automatic deduction into a savings account ON PAYDAY, HR can do this or you can set it up through most banks.    Don’t even act like you have it.  Do your budget, now is a great time to update that budget, and figure out how much you can afford to save with your new-found exemption status, and pay yourself first.  If you are person that thinks if you have it you will spend it, have this automatically put into a credit union savings account two counties away from you and don’t request a debit card for the account.  If getting at your savings means crossing two counties during business hours, I promise you will think twice before you make the trip.

But this is not the only thing you should be discussing at your tax appointment.  Here is the list of some of the questions you should discuss with the accountant to save you money at tax time:

1.  Do I qualify for an Health Savings Account?  How much can I put in?  What are the rules?  Would this be better for my health expenses than itemizing my medicals?  (Sarah learned this one the hard way….)

2.  Do I qualify to deduct money I have put into a traditional IRA or should I be saving in a Roth IRA?  (And the hard way on this one too…SIGH….)

3.  I am married now.  Does it make sense for me to file separately or jointly?  Is one better than the other?  What are the rules?

4.  If I take money from my 401k will I be penalized?  How much?  What is the difference between a withdrawal and a loan?

5.  How will Obamacare affect my tax bill?  (Make sure to have details of your current health plan at the ready for this one.)

6.  I am paying a real estate tax lien in my bankruptcy case, will that affect my tax return – (SHORT ANSWER- YES!  Long answer is here.)

This is the short list.  This list could go on and on and on.  Things like whether to let an ex-spouse claim a child or whose name should go on the mortgage interest statement can all make big changes in your tax return and how much tax you owe every year.

Remember, this is the time of year to really evaluate your financial house and discuss it with a professional.  If that professional says your financial house is falling apart maybe it is time to come see us.

If you would like to discuss how bankruptcy may assist you in getting your financial house back on track give us a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out our online consultation form and we will be happy to help you!

I know, I know.  You are up to your eyeballs in math and receipts right now and the last thing you want to do is spend yet more time with those receipts but I have to make the following suggestion/assertion:

Now is the PERFECT time to update your budget.

Please hold the groans and just hear me out here.  You have all the documents you need to do this in front of you.  They are organized into neat piles and you have annual numbers to use.  This is going to be easy!  All the work is done, you just have to divide by twelve and you are all set!

Ok so maybe it isn’t quite that easy and I know that budgets are hard to make an even harder to live so I have tried to make your lives a little easier by writing this article about creating a perfect and realistic budget.  Check out the article, gather you documents and check update the budget off of your to do list today.

Interested in how our experienced bankruptcy attorneys can help you with your financial woes?  Give our office a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out our online consultation form and we will call you!

 

Many chapter 13 Debtors are catching up on mortgage arrears and property taxes in their bankruptcy cases.  Their Trustee payment each month is being distributed by the Trustee to, among others,  the mortgage company and the taxing authorities.  But that is all the Trustee is doing, he is distributing YOUR MONEY.  YOU are still making the payments!

If you are repaying business expenses through your Chapter 13 Case whether you are still operating your business or if you operated a business that failed before you filed your case, you may be paying sales taxes, vendors and landlords through your bankruptcy case.

In New Jersey, and probably everywhere else, the Trustees are on line and the information about who has been paid in your case last year and how much they have been paid is available.  Your accountant needs that information to properly prepare your tax return and give you the best service.  Make your accountant aware of these payments.

Keep the printout you get from the Trustee’s website showing what was paid in your case last year.  It is likely the mortgage lenders the Trustee is paying are not issuing 1098 forms that include the mortgage interest debtors are paying when it is the Trustee who is sending them the checks.   The IRS will not have gotten a matching report from the mortgage lender who received the money and has not reported it to the IRS (or to you).

I am a bankruptcy attorney and I am not a tax professional.  Take this information to your accountant before you file your tax returns.  Let your accountant analyze the information and prepare your taxes with ALL the information available.  If you have been in your bankruptcy case for several years, you may want to go back and look at prior years for amounts paid by the Trustee to mortgage lenders, taxing authorities or in connection with a business.  Your accountant may decide after seeing the payments made by the Trustee in previous years, that it is worth filing amended tax returns for those years.  You can generally amend prior tax returns for up to 3 years.

Interested in how a bankruptcy can help you with past due mortgage payments and taxes?  Give our office a call at 732-302-9600 or fill out our online consultation and we will call you!