Bankruptcy Indiana

Just yesterday, offering bankruptcy information in Indiana through my blog, I used examples of big corporate bankruptcies to illustrate how the small business bankruptcy system works for my Indiana bankruptcy clients.

Today, however, let's talk personal bankruptcy in Indiana.  This time, I'll use three examples of celebrities who filed bankruptcy last year to illustrate some of the causes of the individual bankruptcy I see right here at home.

1.   Movie actor Stephen Baldwin filed bankruptcy in 2009, after his mortgage company began foreclosure proceedings against him.

Over my many years handling individual bankruptcy in Indiana, I often need to explain to clients that foreclosure and bankruptcy are two separate legal processes. (Proposals to allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages were not approved by Congress.) Designing exactly the right strategy to fit the situation of each client who needs Indiana bankruptcy help, a strategy which may or may not include foreclosure, is a big part of what being a board-certified consumer bankruptcy specialist is all about for me. 

2.  Former major league baseball All-Star Lenny Dykstra of the New York Mets, filed bankruptcy because some gigantic business deals failed and led to many expensive lawsuits.

One of the things I often find is that business dealings and personal finances have not been separated, so that business failures are intertwined with personal financial failures, leading to bankruptcy. The Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who work in the Mark Zuckerberg offices there twll me that often a Chapter 11 small business bankruptcy will quite often be paired with the need for a debt consolidation lawyer on a personal level as well.

Comedian Sinbad was forced into bankruptcy because of a lien on his income for failure to correctly file taxes on some of his hit DVD's.

It is crucial for people behind on their federal and/or Indiana taxes to work with an experienced consumer debt and bankruptcy professional in order to make use of all the legal advantages available.  Getting on the wrong side of tax authorities is dangerous. However, it's a myth that you can never have tax bills discharged in bankruptcy.  In fact, most income taxes more than three years old qualify for forgiveness under Indiana bankruptcy laws.

In all my nearly twenty five years as an Indiana bankruptcy lawyer I have had only a handful of movie stars or sports star clients.  But, helping tens of thousands of clients deal with problems relating to foreclosure, tax liens, lawsuits, and small business issues, making Indiana bankruptcy laws work for them? That's exactly the stuff of which an Indiana bankruptcy lawyer's career is made!