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We have been practicing law in Boston and throughout Massachusetts since 1985. I have represented clients in District Courts, Superior Courts, the Appeals Court, Housing Court, Probate Courts, Federal Bankruptcy Court and the Federal District Court.

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Student Loans and Massachusetts Bankruptcy

Bottom line: it is very hard to discharge student loans in Massachusetts bankruptcy. The law requires that you affirmatively prove an “undue hardship” and it’s hard to prove unless you are permanently disabled. The following is an outline of what steps you can undertake, however. We have previously written about a financial education and this article is an overview of what to do to get started. Note that student loans may not be dischargeable in bankruptcy in Massachusetts, but you can still file for bankruptcy protection and get a fresh start by getting rid of all your credit card debt.

Boston Bankruptcy Law Update

The law for filing a Boston bankruptcy is clear in many respects. One important aspect is to complete the Boston bankruptcy petition and schedules accurately and honestly. Another important part of any Massachusetts bankruptcy case is to testify honestly at any and all hearings. For example, at all bankruptcy creditor hearings, also known as 341 hearings, debtors are sworn in and the Interim Trustee asks questions. Sometimes your lawyer will make a representation to the Trustee.

Foreclosures and Massachusetts Bankruptcies

Will the foreclosure crisis continue in the United States? Will there continue to be record foreclosures in Massachusetts? Will record Massachusetts bankruptcies continue? Massachusetts foreclosures are down 67% from last year, yet there are thousands of Massachusetts properties in or near foreclosures. According to real estate researchers, 23% of households nationally are “underwater” in their mortgages; research reporting company Zillow claims that the number is closer to 27%. Furthermore, if you count the true costs of selling, such as realtor fees, moving and closing costs, an even larger number of folks have “effective negative equity” in their homes.

Increasing Your Credit Score Following Massachusetts Bankruptcy

Back in early January 2011, we wrote about increasing your credit score after personal bankruptcy in Massachusetts. Secured credit cards are credit cards that look and work like credit cards, however, are not based on the issuer’s reliance on your credit, but based on “security” that is money, you have placed in an account with the issuer.

Bankruptcy Russian Style, Beats Massachusetts Bankruptcy?

To follow up with our comparative international bankruptcy tour, the Russian Economic Development Ministry has recently drafted an amendment to the bankruptcy laws allowing Russians to file for personal bankruptcy protection – so long as their debt exceeds 50,000 rubles (approximately $1,785) and they are unable to repay it within six months. The current law, which went into effect in 2009, has many similarities to United States, and Massachusetts’ personal bankruptcy law: the court will examine transactions that occurred within the past three (3) years to determine if they were “suspicious transactions” or preferential transactions.” The proposed law calls for a restructuring plan which may be similar to our Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy.

Assets You Keep in Massachusetts Bankruptcies

Filing for a personal bankruptcy in Massachusetts enables you to discharge your unsecured debt and keep all of your assets, up to the statutory maximum. A bankruptcy lawyer will explain to you what you can discharge and what you can keep. For example, in a recent article about keeping your tax refunds in bankruptcy we noted that proper planning enables our clients to keep those refunds. In addition, keeping your home in bankruptcy is even easier with a new Massachusetts homestead law. Further, consumers can keep most assets and rebuild FICO scores following bankruptcy in Massachusetts

Home Ownership After Personal Bankruptcy in Massachusetts

Filing a Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy (generally) allows you to either keep your home or walk away from a home that is “underwater” in mortgage debt. On the other hand, if you don’t have a home, how soon after filing for bankruptcy protection will it take to be able to buy a home? Home ownership is 73% over the general population, 68% with those that filed bankruptcy over 15 years ago, and 50% for folks that have recently, according to a study by Ohio State Professor Jay Zagorsky regarding life after bankruptcy.

Elizabeth Warren’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

We have written on several occasions about financial consumer advocate and Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren. In several Massachusetts consumer blog articles, we encouraged her appointment as director of the newly established Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Massachusetts Debtors Look to Canada

While US and Massachusetts personal bankruptcies were up in 2010, Canadian personal bankruptcies were down. The reduction was 16,704 people, or 11%. The reasons are likely to be because the Canadian economy is doing better and, because the Canadian government changed the bankruptcy rules, similar to the changes the US Congress made in 2005, making it more difficult to file for personal bankruptcy. We don’t understand it all down south here, but it has something do to with “surplus income” which is defined as income above a specific amount for a single person, and other amounts for families.

Massachusetts Pet Trusts

Massachusetts will join some 42 other states and allow us to dictate, in a will, a trust for the care of your pets. On April 7, Massachusetts’s law will include An Act Relative to Trusts for the Care of Animals. The law finally allows you to leave money and care instructions for your pets in your will. You can set up a trust similar to one you would to provide a college fund for a child or a special needs trust for an incapacitated adult. Boston attorney Neil Burns will draft wills for clients to include an Animal Trust.