Middlesex County Estate Planning and Bankruptcy Legal Blog

There are many inaccurate assumptions about bankruptcy. Some in New Jersey may believe that this process will leave them destitute and without personal property, but that is not the case. Bankruptcy may not be your first choice of ways to deal with your financial struggles, but it may actually be the best way for you to deal with certain types of debt once and for all. 

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is liquidation bankruptcy, which means that you may lose some of your personal assets. However, you will likely be able to keep many of the things that are important to you. Bankruptcy law provides several exemptions for applicants, which means that you will be able to discharge certain types of debt without losing all of your assets and property.

In New Jersey and across the country, many people are gearing up for tax season. Are you expecting a substantial refund? Have you already begun thinking about how you will spend it? The average person can likely expect to receive several thousand dollars in tax refunds this year. There are numerous ways to use such monies, and some will simply tuck their refunds into savings accounts and forget about them.

Perhaps, you're not one of them, however. It's common for people to want to splurge when they receive large tax refunds. Maybe you'll take a short vacation or make a down-payment on a new car. Then again, with consumer debt at an all-time high in the U.S., you might be leaning more toward the idea of using refunded tax monies to pay off debts.

Estate planning can be a complex process, and there are many reasons why New Jersey readers avoid it. Whether you are not sure if you even need an estate plan or you don't know where to start, it is in your interests to know what steps you should take in order to fully protect your long-term interests. What you don't know or don't understand can hold you back from important steps you need to take.

Misconceptions about estate planning can ultimately result in exposure to certain risks and problems in the future. If you don't understand certain things or have assumptions about what types of protection you may need, it is beneficial to seek appropriate guidance. An assessment of your case can help you see what estate planning steps can be useful for your situation.

When creating a comprehensive estate plan, you will need to make many decisions about various life- and estate-related details. You will likely need to determine who will receive your assets after your passing, who could be in charge of making important medical and financial decisions on your behalf should the need arise, and who would care for your children if needed.

Because estate planning can be an emotional and challenging process to complete, you certainly do not want anything to happen to your documents now that you have signed your papers and called your plan complete for now. Keeping your original records out of harm's way is another important aspect of planning.