You may assume that, once you file your bankruptcy petition, you will be home free with all your incurred debts. It may be true that your bankruptcy proceedings alleviate the heavy burden of these debts. However, it may still leave you with a little bit of responsibility. That is, you may still be held liable for what are considered to be your non-dischargeable debts. Read on to discover the best strategy for dealing with non-dischargeable debts and how a seasoned Rockland County bankruptcy attorney at The Law Offices of Allen A. Kolber, Esq. can help make this manageable for you.
What are non-dischargeable debts in bankruptcy?
First of all, non-dischargeable debts are defined as outstanding debts that cannot and will not be eliminated during your bankruptcy proceedings. In other words, a bankruptcy filing may not be able to shield you from your due lenders’ collection activities. Rather, they may still be able to pursue you until they receive the funds that are owed to them. Without further ado, examples of debts that are not to be discharged in bankruptcy are as follows:
- Your outstanding debts from your student loans.
- Your outstanding debts from your home mortgage.
- Your outstanding debts from certain tax obligations.
- Your outstanding debts from your criminal restitution.
- Your outstanding debts from fines by certain government agencies.
- Your outstanding debts from child support and spousal support obligations.
- Your outstanding debts from the outcome of a personal injury lawsuit placed against you.
- Your outstanding debts from the loans you have taken out against your retirement accounts.
- Your outstanding debts from your fraud or money/property you obtained under false pretenses.
What is the best strategy for dealing with non-dischargeable debts in bankruptcy?
You may be overwhelmed if a majority of your debts, for which you were seeking relief in the first place, turn out to be non-dischargeable. While there may not be any loopholes around this, you must understand that there may be other legal strategies that you can use to your advantage. These strategies may ensure that all other possible debts (i.e., dischargeable debts) can be eliminated from your immediate financial responsibility.
For one, you must list out every single debt you carry in your initial bankruptcy petition. This is because, if you forget one, it may not be forgiven and you may end up stuck with it. Secondly, you must make a strong argument to the New York bankruptcy court whenever necessary. That is, one of your due lenders may come forward to protest the discharge of a certain debt. With this, you must respond with a defense that you had every intention to pay this off before you turned to a bankruptcy declaration.
You may rest easier knowing that a competent Rockland County bankruptcy attorney can serve as your needed support system during this difficult time. So please call us at The Law Offices of Allen A. Kolber, Esq. today.
