QUESTION: The commencement of a bankruptcy case automatically creates a bankruptcy estate. Accordingly, at the time the petition is filed, whether voluntary or involuntary, single or joint, a bankruptcy estate is formed of the debtor’s property, which then becomes subject to administration by a trustee or the debtor-in-possession for the benefit of the debtor’s creditors. The bankruptcy estate includes the debtor’s legal and equitable interests in property owned by the debtor at the time of filing, as well as the proceeds, profits, or rents from such property, certain property to which the debtor becomes entitled within six months of the petition date, and any property interest acquired by the estate after the petition date. For obvious reasons, the timing of the filing of the petition and the timing of the debtor’s receipt of property or income is critical to determining whether property belongs to the estate. Many cases have held that certain types of income or rights to payment that were earned prepetition became property of the estate, notwithstanding the fact that the debtor did not receive the funds until after the filing of the petition.
Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper
Immigration Atty. Brian Lerner
Atty. Brian Lerner
The Automatic Stay
QUESTION: I have just filed for Bankruptcy. Can you let me know what exactly is the Automatic Stay?
Answer:Typically a debtor has already been sued or threatened with legal action by creditors by the time a voluntary petition is filed. The debtor may have been subjected to wage garnishments or other judicial processes employed in the collection efforts of creditors. In order to relieve the financial pressures that caused the debtor to seek bankruptcy relief, the Bankruptcy Code provides that the filing of the petition results in an automatic stay of certain actions. This stay, which arises by operation of law and requires no judicial action, halts the collection of claims and protects the debtor from further harassment by creditors. It is one of the most fundamental and significant debtor protections under bankruptcy law. The automatic stay prevents a creditor from pursuing remedies against the debtor’s assets to the detriment of other creditors and allows the debtor some breathing room. If the speediest creditors were permitted to continue to grab the debtor’s property after the bankruptcy case had commenced, an orderly liquidation and an equitable distribution of the estate to creditors would be frustrated.
The Hague Convention
Question: We want to adopt, but are unclear of what to do.
We have heard that there some requirements we must follow through the Hague Convention. Can you elaborate?
Answer: On April 1, 2008, the Hague Adoption Convention went into effect for intercountry adoptions between the United States and other Hague Convention countries. If the country you want to adopt a child is not part of this agreement, you do not need to comply with its requirements. USCIS centralized all Hague processing and adjudication at the National Benefits Center (NBC) in Lee’s Summit, Mo. The Hague process requires the filing of Form I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country, and then a Form I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative.
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