Under New Jersey law, every auto insurance policy holder has the option of choosing between two different thresholds as a part of their policy, which affect their ability to sue for pain and suffering.  If the “no tort threshold” or “no threshold” is chosen, then their right to sue for personal injury is not limited.  However, if the “verbal threshold” or “lawsuit threshold” is chosen, then the policyholder’s right to sue is limited.  There is a significant additional insurance premium charged to an insured who selects the “no threshold”.  Read More…

I recently received a call from a prospective bankruptcy client. He indicated that he had recently been sued on a debt that he could not afford to repay and wanted to seek bankruptcy relief.  We had a productive initial consultation and it appeared that he was qualified to file a Chapter 7 petition and that he was entitled to a discharge.  However, in passing he mentioned that he had just moved to New Jersey from New York.  I advised him that if he needed to file right away, he could not do so in New Jersey.  Read More..

Every bankruptcy case has a trustee assigned to it by the court.   (The trustee is usually an experienced bankruptcy attorney who has qualified through the Court to serve.) The trustee has many duties, and one of them is to conduct a meeting of creditors for each case. Section 341 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code requires the trustee to orally examine the bankruptcy debtor at the meeting of creditors. Section 343 specifies that this examination is to be performed with the debtor under oath.   Read More…

The goal in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case is to discharge most if not all of your debts. The whole Chapter 7 bankruptcy process takes about four to six months, costs $306 in filing fees, and commonly requires only one trip to the courthouse.  You must also complete credit counseling and financial management with an agency approved by the United States Trustee.

You are not eligible if you already received a bankruptcy discharge in the last six to eight years (depending which type of bankruptcy you filed) or if, based on your income, expenses, and debts, you could feasibly complete a Chapter 13 repayment plan.   Read More…