I enjoyed presenting yesterday at the National Business Institute’s Chapter 7 and 13 Bankruptcy: Line-by-Line Workshop. We covered a lot of information about bankruptcy in a short number of hours. I really appreciated all of the questions and discussions posed by the Attendees!

I spoke on Consumer Bankruptcy Fundamentals: The basics of Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcy. We discussed what each Chapter is, how they differ and which one may be the best for the individual debtor.

Next, we went through the Means Test. Using real-life debtor scenarios I walked line-by-line through the tricky form B22A. We discussed ambiguous areas and how to recognize options for the above-median income debtor.

I reviewed the Bankruptcy Filing Procedures. This included information about filing and notice procedures for Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcy. We talked about Electronic Filing and how attorneys can become ECF compliant. Finally, I presented on all of the Official Bankruptcy Forms (B1-B26) —  how they are to be used and their purposes.

For fun, I threw in some celeb pics with information about their bankruptcy cases and trivia. Those that answered the question first (correctly) scored 100GRAND!

Did you know:

Kim Basinger filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1993. She could not pay the $7.4 million breach of contract judgment entered against her.  Her net worth at time of filing $5,387,382.19.

Lorraine Bracco filed for bankruptcy in 1999. She incurred high legal fees stemming from a custody dispute.  She filed before she landed her role in Sopranos.  Rumored current net worth $19 million.

Samuel L. Clemens (“Mark Twain”) filed bankruptcy in 1894. Twain made a substantial amount of money from his writing; however he lost an even greater amount of money in bad investments.  The main bad investment was on an invention called the Paige typesetting machine.  Twain spent $300,000 (equal to $7,590,000 today) on it between 1880 and 1894, but before it could be perfected, it was made obsolete by the Linotype.

Larry King – retired talk show host filed bankruptcy in 1978. King could not get out from under $352,000 of debt.  Net worth now is rumored around $144 million.

Francis Ford Coppola – Film Director/Producer filed in 1990. Godfather was a huge success for Coppola; however, later box office flops coupled with huge film budgets forced him to file for relief.  Rumored current net worth $100 million.

Proving yet again — there is life after bankruptcy

 

Malissa L. Walden

 

 

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