Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash. The recently expired deadline allowing pandemic relief payments from being excluded from the means test was extended to March 27, 2022. Way back at the beginning of the pandemic the CARES Act made some helpful temporary changes to consumer bankruptcy law. (See our blog post in April 2020 about this.) Those changes had expiration … Read More
Paying Medical Bills with New Debts
Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash. You could pay your medical bills through many forms of borrowing—from putting them on a credit card to a home equity loan. What makes sense? About one-fourth (26%) of American adults (18-64 years old) reported that they or someone in their household had problems paying medical bills during the previous year. This is according … Read More
New Affordable Care Act Opportunities
Photo by pina messina on Unsplash. Two major recent developments with the Affordable Care Act: a Special Enrollment Period is open until August 15, and coverage costs less. Our last several weeks of blog posts have been about health insurance and medical bills. Two weeks ago we got into the topic of health insurance and bankruptcy. Last week was a … Read More
Q&A about Medical Bankruptcy
Photo by Martha Dominguez de Gouveia on Unsplash. There is no such thing, legally speaking, as a medical bankruptcy. However, the majority of personal bankruptcies have a medical cause. The last two weeks we’ve written about health insurance. Two weeks ago we discussed the 6 months of free health insurance provided by the recent American Rescue Plan Act. Last week … Read More
Bankruptcy Helps with Health Insurance
Photo by Owen Beard on Unsplash. Health insurance is extremely important, for lots of reasons. Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 can both help you get and keep your health insurance. Last week we discussed the 6 months of free health insurance provided by the recent American Rescue Plan Act. It may apply to you if you lost your job and … Read More
Free Health Insurance for 6 Months
Have you lost a job, and with it your employer-based health insurance? You can get 6 months of that insurance for free starting April 1. Last month’s American Rescue Plan Act included the $1,400 stimulus payments, expanded unemployment insurance, and many other benefits. One other less well-known benefit pays your health insurance if you’ve lost your job and your health … Read More
What If You Already Owe Income Tax?
Photo by Donovan Reeves on Unsplash. What if you already owe a prior year (or more) of income tax, regardless whether you expect to owe for 2020? What should you do and not do? What if you owe 2020 income taxes even though the IRS is not taxing $10,200 of unemployment income that year? That was our topic last week. … Read More
Got Unemployment Income and Owe Income Tax?
Photo by Travis Essinger on Unsplash. What if you owe 2020 income taxes even though the IRS is not taxing $10,200 of unemployment income? What should you do and not do? Last week we discussed the extent to which unemployment income is not taxed because of the American Rescue Plan Act. Generally, you don’t pay federal (and possibly state) income … Read More
Don’t Pay Tax on Unemployment Benefits
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash. Did you receive unemployment benefits in 2020? 1 in 4 Americans did. Under the American Rescue Plan you don’t pay tax on the first $10,200. Unemployment Benefits Are Generally Taxable As the IRS states plainly, “[i]f you received unemployment compensation during the year, you must include it in gross income.” Unemployment Compensation, IRS Topic … Read More
Don’t Waste Your Stimulus Payment
Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash. It’s all too easy to think you’re doing the right and smart thing to pay your stimulus payment to creditors. Here are examples when it’s not. Before You Make Decisions That Hurt You Last week we introduced the radical idea that the best use of your upcoming or already received $1,400 stimulus payment might … Read More
File Bankruptcy with Your Stimulus Payment
Photo by Mubariz Mehdizadeh on Unsplash. As surprising as it may sound, putting your new $1,400 stimulus payment into the cost of bankruptcy may be your very best use of that money. Last week Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act and President Biden signed it into law. Among Its many parts is the $1,400 per person stimulus payment—officially called … Read More
Sell Your Home with Chapter 13 Help
Photo by Ronnie George on Unsplash. Chapter 13 works with the pandemic’s mortgage payment forbearance process so that you can sell your home if and when you’re ready to do so. Last week we showed how Chapter 7 helps you take advantage of the pandemic foreclosure moratorium when selling your home. Today we show how it works even better with … Read More
Selling Your Home with Bankruptcy Help
Photo by Kent Rebman on Unsplash. When selling your home during this foreclosure moratorium rollercoaster, Chapter 7 bankruptcy maximizes your sale price and protects sale proceeds. In the last two blog posts we presented 10 ways bankruptcy significantly helps you take advantage of the foreclosure moratorium. One of those ways—from two weeks ago—was in the context of selling your home. … Read More
More Foreclosure Moratorium Help
Photo by Sven Brandsma on Unsplash. The mortgage foreclosure moratorium extension can be helpful. But it doesn’t help with judgment and tax liens on your home. Bankruptcy does so. Last week we wrote about the ongoing foreclosure moratorium and the related mortgage forbearance opportunities. We discussed how bankruptcy can hugely increase the practical benefits of this for you and your … Read More
Forbearance Extension Helped by Bankruptcy
Photo by Matt Bowden on Unsplash. The mortgage forbearance extension can be helpful. But the whole situation is extremely stressful. Bankruptcy can help in many ways. Wild Foreclosure Moratorium Rollercoaster Ride If your mortgage has qualified for the federal mortgage foreclosure moratorium, the last 11 months have been a wild ride. Since the original 60-day foreclosure moratorium in March 2020, … Read More