Alexander B. Wathen's Answers

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

You can only file in your own name. Even if you have a power of attorney that ends upon death. It is important to hire a probate lawyer to administer the estate also make sure there are no complicated inheritance issues when you file bankruptcy. You should talk to a bankruptcy attorney about this in more detail giving more information about your situation.

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I am being sued by a credit card company in Texas

You need to hire an attorney who defends these lawsuits such as Dana Karni. If you have more than one it is probably cheaper just to file for bankruptcy. Although in most cases they cannot take your personal belongings money in the bank in non-retirement accounts, land or a house that is not your homestead is also vulnerable if you do nothing. The main disadvantages with judgments is that they hurt your credit score and can be collected on indefinitely if the lender does the right thing. I...

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Tax returns and bankruptcy

I assume that you are talking about the bankruptcy Trustee. You of course need to file your own tax returns and the Trustee needs to file for the estate. I would seek a tax professional who does tax returns for bankruptcy trustees on a regular basis.

My question is can I have her power cut? What other legal steps should I take after the 30days is up?

You need to hire an attorney. I would like to recommend Brian Cweren he is involved with the Houston Apartment Association and does a lot of landlord tenant type issues so he might be able to help you.

Repaying Student Loans from 14 yrs ago

Regretfully for federal student loans there is no statute of limitation. It is also hard to get rid of them in bankruptcy but it can sometimes be done.

Can I settle a housing debt so that it does not appear on my credit and if so how? Do I need a special lawyer or anything?

Even if you settle the debt and the creditor agrees to remove it from your credit report it will probably not go off the judgments section because that is a public record that the credit bureaus get from the counties rather than from the creditors. Hire a credit repair firm to dispute it, I recommend Allen Michael. If that does not work you may hire an attorney who specializes in credit reports.

Any recourse for debt owed from 7 & 8/2009?

Contracts can usually be oral. You should consult a lawyer, but due to the small amount it is probably more economical to file in small claims court. Sometimes you can get attorneys fees for a contract when you sue so if the defendant has assets that might work but here is where it is tricky if it is a verbal contract.

In Texas, can debt be collected by the IRS through a joint checking account in which only one person was responsible for?

Do you have your bank account agreement? Usually most banks make both account holders joint owners of the account so the answer will probably be yes when you consult an attorney about this matter. You may consider filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 13 to handle the IRS debt.

Would money from a personal injury settlement be considered income when using the Means Test for filing Chapter 7.

In situations like this it is often better to file Chapter 13 because in that Chapter you can keep all of your property and the means test matters a little less. I am not saying you cannot file Chapter 7 it just depends more on the details so be sure to talk that over with your attorney. If you are sitting on a lump sum then Chapter 7 will not work, but in some cases if you have an annuity it might but your attorney needs to know more. Chapter 13 avoids most of these problems.

A Motion to Lift Stay has been filed. How do I stop this so that I can reaffirm the debt? What do I need to file?

You definitely need to talk to your attorney. There are a number of options for secured collateral in Chapter 7 actually six if I count them all, including redemption. Your attorney will discuss all of these with you. Show up at your lawyer's office and I am a sure he or she will work you into the schedule!