Bankruptcy Indiana

On all the TV crime shows, we hear the cops say to the perps, "You have the right to remain silent…" As a longtime debt consolidation lawyer and Indiana bankruptcy attorney, though, I have to tell you: when it comes to the bankruptcy laws in Indiana, you really don't have the right to remain silent!

In providing Indiana bankruptcy information, I like to use real court cases to illustrate different aspects of how bankruptcy in Indiana works.  Here's what happened in one Texas case:

• The debtor, T. was a partner in a law firm.  Another partner had committed fraud, and, because the firm was a partnership, T. was liable for a share of the debt (even though he'd done nothing wrong).
   
• T. filed bankruptcy.
   
• A debate arose within the jury about what constitutes fraud.  Does fraud occur only when a party makes a misrepresentation (meaning tells an untruth), or can fraud occur when a party fails to mention a material fact?

As an Indiana lawyer for bankruptcy, I was especially interested in the court's final ruling on this case.  The courts overwhelmingly decided that a debtor's silence regarding a material fact is the same as telling a lie.

This principle comes into play all the time in my work.  In fact, it's one of the reasons I believe that filing bankruptcy in Indiana is NOT a do-it-yourself job.  What I find is that clients who have no intention of committing fraud just do not understand what needs to be included in the answers to some of the questions on the bankruptcy paperwork that must be submitted to the court.  Often, the clients don't know how to gather the needed information.  Without meaning to, then, clients who don't seek professional Indiana bankruptcy help leave out material information. You now know that's as bad as actually falsifying the information.

In a worst-case scenario, a bankruptcy petition can be totally denied by the court, all because of an unintentional omission of material information. There is actually the possibility of criminal recrimitaion as well!  When it comes to the bankruptcy laws of Indiana, silence is certainly not golden!