Bankruptcy and Estate Planning
The legal process of bankruptcy, though sometimes misunderstood, is a progressive and often merciful process. By it, a hopelessly indebted individual can make an official declaration of financial inability and be free of those obligations. With new amendments in U.S. laws, well not so new anymore, twelve years old now, there is little or no social or corporate stigma attached to filing for bankruptcy. Filing for bankruptcy, though a matter of public record, no longer means that it becomes a matter of public knowledge. Effectively, this is an incentive for the bankrupt party to make another attempt at financial solvency. An individual can file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7(for irreversible insolvency) or Chapter 13(for temporary insolvency). The benefits of filing for bankruptcy include rebuilding your credit. Meanwhile, the bankrupt person has assured freedom from harassment by previous creditors. When Congress amended the US bankruptcy code(ratified in 1978) in 2005, that too...