Debating child custody is often one of the most adversarial aspects of any California divorce or separation case. In most cases, both sides want custody of their child or, at the very least, a favorable visitation schedule. Time with your child becomes more precious when you’re forced by the courts to split time with your […]

  Bankruptcy can help many people get a fresh start when their debt gets out of control. The journey to get there can be somewhat long and winding, though. One of the stops along the way is the Meeting of Creditors, sometimes referred to as the 341 meeting. This meeting usually happens no later than […]

Losing a loved one is difficult and usually requires time for the decedent’s survivors to process the loss. However, during this time of grieving, someone close to the decedent must also begin the process of closing the estate. In many cases, an estate in California can only be considered closed after going through probate. Before […]

Bankruptcy can take a lot out of a person. Finances on the fritz and all the noise about how “bad” bankruptcy is does nothing to help. The panic can be a lot for anyone to handle, but this is especially true for anyone in retirement trying to make sure they have enough to get by […]

In a world with easy access to obscene levels of information, estate planning often suffers from common misconceptions. Most information online about estate planning will guide you to secure your assets for what you leave behind when you’re gone, but estate planning is about more than your loved ones – it’s about you, too. An […]

Filing for bankruptcy takes serious time and consideration. While we are often helping our clients fight the stigma of bankruptcy, we still understand the finality of such a decision and the short and long-term financial consequences. For some, bankruptcy is not a one-off decision. Bad decisions, bad luck, and just bad circumstances can often put […]

So much of our lives are spent planning for retirement. We build up wealth and assets in order to live a comfortable life in retirement. IRAs are popular retirement planning accounts that we advocate for and that many Americans use to build up enough to retire. Ideally, when you plan for retirement you plan to […]

The worst-case scenario debtors think about before filing for bankruptcy is losing everything. Your house, car, furniture—what if it all goes away? Fortunately, many people can retain their principal place of residence thanks to what’s called the homestead exemption. Each state (except for New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which have no homestead exemption) has slightly different […]

We hope the holidays were full of good cheer for you and your family. Seeing loved ones far and wide is one of the best parts of the season. The holidays can sometimes reveal, though, that elderly family members are not as mentally sharp as they used to be. This can certainly be an uncomfortable […]

When it comes to personal bankruptcies, debtors are generally limited to two types: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.  Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows debtors to wipe most debts from their record, but it comes at a price: you may lose a good amount of your possessions that are used to secure some of those debts. On […]