Bankruptcy Indiana

If I've learned one thing in my many years as a lawyer for bankruptcy in Indiana, it's this: The entire bankruptcy system rests on information, truthful information. As long as all parties fully disclose all the relevant information, the bankruptcy courts can treat all parties fairly - both debtors and creditors.

That's the reason that, again and again ,I along with all the good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana who work in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, have seen the courts be very, very hard on people they believe have committing bankruptcy fraud.

In order for me to keep offering the most up-to-date information to my Bankruptcy in Indiana readers and Indiana bankruptcy clients, I'm constantly reading - journals, newspapers, online news sources, magazines, and books.  Consumer Bankruptcy News talked about three separate cases in three different states. In each case, the court ruled that bankruptcy fraud had been committed.

Now, I must tell you (and I was discussing this the other day with one of my Columbus bankruptcy lawyer colleagues the other day) that we don't see many clients who set out to willingly commit fraud. Most of the time, clients just don't understand what information they need to include in their paperwork when they're filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana. 

A very large proportion of our efforts, in fact, whether it involves bankruptcy chapter 7 Indiana or Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana, involves helping our clients collect and then properly report, their financial information. It's complicated, and the clients are obviously not in the calmest frame of mind as they contemplate filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana, or even small business bankruptcy in Indiana.

Looking at these three cases is interesting and informative:

Louisiana: In their Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Mr.& Mrs. S. failed to disclose real estate properties they owned, plus interests they owned in different businesses, to the tune of $400,000 not disclosed.  Both were sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Massachusetts:  J. concealed his interest in two $1 million lottery tickets, each of which was paying him an annual income.

New Mexico: C. failed to report two pieces of real estate he owned (he transferred them to a girlfriend) plus two water purification systems and a Jeep. C. was sentenced to 30 days in jail followed by three years of supervised release.

Bankruptcy law was created to offer honest but unfortunate debtors the chance to make a fresh financial start. Over my many years as an Indianapolis bankruptcy lawyer, I have seen the system work for more than 35,000 individuals, couples, and small businesses.  There are many myths about bankruptcy, but one principle has always held true: it's meant to help honest debtors!