Many homeowner's struggling to save their home may be able to avoid their second mortgage under a Chapter 13 plan. If the value of the home has decreased to the extent that there is no equity to support the amount amount due the amount due.
The question is often asked as to what extent a spouse's income is taken into consideration when only the other spouse files for chapter 7 bankruptcy due to financial difficulties. It is often asked, "Why should my spouse be responsible for my debt." The recent bankruptcy case of In re Coup, 2008 WL 2388114 (Bankr.N.D.Ohio)(Whipple, J.) addressed this issue. This Chapter 7 case came before the Bankruptcy Court on the U.S. Trustee's (the "UST") motion to dismiss the case an an "abuse." The Court held that a non-filing spouse's income is taken into consideration to a certain extent and found this case to be an abuse and ordered the case dismissed unless the Debtor converted the case to chapter 13.
Significantly, the Court noted that there are differing opinions as to the degree of relevance of the non-filing spouse's income. The Court stated that some of the varying opinions are that the non-filing spouse's income is only taken into consideration only to the degree that it is regularly contributed to the household expenses, that it should be considered only if it is so substantial that it would raise the debtor's standard of living to the excess, and that it should be taken into consideration only to the extent of the debtor's living expenses that benefit the non-filing spouse. The Court decided that the most persuasive approach is that the non-filing spouse's income must be reviewed to determine what degree a debtor's daily living expenses are shared as co-obligations of the non-debtor spouse or are assumed completely by the non-filing spouse. But the Court made clear that although the non-filing spouse's income is not be rendered liable for the debts of the debtor, it is considered in determining whether the debtor has available discretionary income by virtue of the fact that the debtor and non-filing spouse share a joint household. The Court also adopted the position that a court should assume that both parties to a relationship share equally in the family living expenses and that the appropriate measure of a debtor's income for purposes of a determination of abuse under section 707(b) would be the debtor's sole income less one-half of the family living expenses.
Generally a mortgage secured by a principal residence is not modifiable in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan. One is allowed though to stop foreclosure action and reinstate your home mortgage under a Chapter 13 plan over a period of up to five years.
Due to the continuing deterioration of the residential real estate market in South Florida, the time has come to possibly consider a further approach to saving one's home in Chapter 13.
You generally do not need to file "bankruptcy" in order to close your Florida corporate business. A chapter 7 corporate bankruptcy liquidation is only necessary or advisable in certain limited circumstances.
Although a bankruptcy case is not generally necessary, the applicable provisions of Florida law, including the corporate statutes, are required to be followed.
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