Lincoln-Goldfinch Video Library

The 1800’s American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw once said “Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.” Debt is not a new concept; it has existed for many years from Mesopotamia to Ancient Greece and all the way to modern America. Debt always be alive and well. For many years the Creditors had all the tools and the power to control your debt to the point where even our Founding Father Benjamin Franklin said “Creditors have better memories than debtors.” Luckily, with debt came the tool that we call bankruptcy, a tool that over 400,000 people have used in 2021 alone.

In 2020, the U.S. Small Business Administration estimated that from 2000 to 2019, small businesses created 10.5 million net new jobs, while large businesses created 5.6 million. Since 2000, small businesses have accounted for 65.1% of net new job creation. However, amid the pandemic, America’s small businesses were one of the hardest-hit sectors, and it is believed that over 34% of all small businesses are still closed due to COVID-19 as of 2022. In fact, San Francisco is one of the most affected metro areas, with a 48% closure rate of small businesses. In the State of Texas, San Antonio had a closure rate of 40%. Simply put, many businesses just were not prepared to handle such a massive shutdown on the global economy. However, this does not mean that small businesses are out of luck.

In almost every situation when someone has debt there will always be a Creditor, also known as a lender and a Debtor. The Creditor can be anyone from a bank, to someone you may personally know. Creditors make money by charging interest on the loans they offer their clients. For example, if a creditor lends a borrower $5,000 with a 5 percent interest rate, the lender–or creditor–gets their money back, plus the 5% interest rate. In some states, they could be entitled to garnish your wages in some cases up to 25 percent, if something were to happen.

Did you know that Bankrupcy had been around since the Medieval period? In fact, bankrupcy in the United States has been around since 1803. Throughout the ages, many people have used this powerful financial tool, from celebrities like Brendan Fraser, 50 Cent, Nicholas Cage and Mike Tyson, to American presidents like Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump. Although bankruptcy is a great tool that can help anyone in the United States get a fresh financial start, it does have its limitations, such as with fraud.

Undergoing bankruptcy proceedings can be a very emotionally difficult situation, and adding a divorce on top of that does not make it any easier.
According to data from the United States Census Bureau, the average age for couples going through their first divorce is 30 years old. Moreover, nearly 50 percent of all marriages in the United States end in divorce or separation. In fact, every 42 seconds, there is one divorce in the US. A survey from the US Census Bureau also found that the top three reasons for divorces are incompatibility (43%), infidelity (28%), and money issues (22%).

It is estimated that 9 percent of adults, or nearly 23 million Americans, have some form of medical debt, ranging from $250 to $2,000. 1 percent of Americans owe more than $10,000, according to government data. In 2019, it is estimated that the collective American medical debt totaled out to at least $195 billion.

1 in 8 Americans have student loan debt, according to US Census data. That’s 43 million people, or 12.9 percent of the American population. Collectively, they held a total of $1.6 trillion in student loan debt as of March 31, 2021. The greatest amount, a staggering $600 billion, is owed by those between the ages of 35 to 49 years old. Black Americans borrow more often and in greater amounts, in comparison to other races and ethnicities. Additionally, among all borrowers, women typically borrow more for a college education than men –and attain a higher number of degrees, as well. Student loans are notoriously difficult to pay off, much less wipe out. So, can bankruptcy help with discharging student loan debt? Does student debt and student loan forgiveness affect every American equally? And, what exactly is The Brunner Test?

Benjamin Franklin once said: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” An estimated 11.23 million Americans owed a total of more than $125 billion in back taxes to the federal government in 2019, according to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data, and growing even more ever since the pandemic has started. Adding further difficulties into the mix have been tax deadline extensions, mid-tax season changes in taxable unemployment benefits, an advance Child Tax Credit, and stimulus payment recoveries through filing taxes.

Since 2022 began, there has been an average of 1,310 Bankruptcy filings per day across the United States. Filing for bankruptcy has a bad reputation in many circles, and a large part of the reason why people say bankruptcy is bad is because they don’t understand the process. There are different types of bankruptcy designed to meet an individual’s specific financial needs. Chapter 13, also known as a “wage earner’s plan” is a type of bankruptcy that allows individuals to develop a plan to repay all or part of their debts over the course of 3-5 years. But, what exactly is a Chapter 13 Plan? How does it work? What happens if I lose my job? Can a Chapter 13 plan help me with foreclosure, tax debt or child support? This week, our Bankruptcy Attorney Amy Wilburn continues the discussion of Chapter 13, the repayment plan, and how Bankruptcy can be a valuable financial tool for you.

Our Attorney Amy Wilburn is here to share her knowledge with us again, this time we’re talking about another type of Bankruptcy Solutions, only one more of the many tools for debt relief we can file for.

Have you tried everything to catch up on your debt but still can’t seem to manage? If you’ve exhausted all your options, Bankruptcy and specifically Chapter 7 might be the next option to consider. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a legal process that can help individuals get relief from debts by discharging or clearing some or all of what’s owed.

As forbearance programs come to an end and people go back to dealing with their mortgages, there’s an expected rapid and dramatic increase in foreclosure proceedings. Bankruptcy Attorney Amy Wilburn helps us understand more about foreclosures by answering questions and explaining what can be helpful when you’re facing this critical situation.

Our Bankruptcy Attorney Amy Wilburn will help us clear our doubts regarding Evictions and what we can do to prevent that dreadful situation. If you ever had doubts about how can Bankruptcy help you fix your finances, or what Chapter works best for you. Or even, if you’re just curious about this, this is your show!

We’re premiering a new radio station for our Bankruptcy Division. Bankruptcy Attorney Amy Wilburn teaches us a little about Bankruptcy, details, pros, and cons, and answers a few more questions.

Our Bankruptcy Attorney Amy Wilburn shares with us very important information about Debt Relief, how it works, and also some insights on Financial Tips and how to handle our personal economics or use Bankruptcy to our full advantage and achieve Financial Freedom.

In today’s transmission, we will be talking about adjustments of status or green card through family members. But, right now we have really special guests in this special place called “El Show Sin Fronteras”.

Are you worried about paying your bills? In this English video, we discuss our new area of practice, aimed at helping people who cannot keep up with their monthly bills and expenses.

Kate is joined by her husband Joshua Meyer to talk about your options for debt relief! We are now ready to serve your financial needs so give us a call or text today to get started on your path to financial freedom.

An Austin Texas bankruptcy and immigration law firm you can rely on! (855) 502-0555.

This is where it all started in driving our decision to get into the practice area of Bankruptcy, experiencing first hand in our own family the life changing impacts of starting over can provide! (855) 502-0555.