Will a corporation be considered an asset if I own 25 of the 100 shares of it, and wish to file bankruptcy?

You can sue them for failing to provide you with a distribution of assets and profits. In your situation, only your wife may have to file for BR not you. Also in these are company debts, not debts personally guaranteed by you, you may not be personally liable for them. You really need to discuss your options with a NYS state commercial litigator. You might find my legal guide on selecting and hiring a lawyer helpful. You might find my legal guide on Is it Legal? Is it Illegal? helpful. You might find my legal guide on the understanding the different court systems helpful. You might find my legal guide on legal terms used in litigation helpful. (Even if you are not filing a lawsuit this information can be useful). You might find my legal guide on commercial litigation helpful. . The prior federal administration severely weakened most state’s laws against excessive interest. Unpaid debts now have practically no ceiling on interest which means the final bill can be much more than the original debt. When you have received a collection notice, lawsuit or even a judgment on an old debt which may have already been paid, or belongs to someone else, or has been discharged in bankruptcy, keep the following in mind. After a creditor writes off your debt, it can then be sold to a collection agency. That agency may sell it again and the next one again. By the time the debt is assigned to a law firm, it can be years pass the statute of limitations, all of the original contracts have been lost and there may be no legal foundation for enforcing the debt. One way of knowing this is that the agency will have no discernible address or they will say they are collecting from a creditor, but the creditor does not know who they are. They will call you at work , and they will not listen to any explanation at all. They will refuse any suggested payment plan and demand a large sum at once. Often these collection agencies and even law firms will file a suit against you, misspell your name, or deliberately send it to the wrong address. You have no notice but they go to court anyway, get a default judgment against you when you do not come to court, and file a judgment lien on your assets such as a home you are trying to sell, or they report you to a credit bureau as a deadbeat. You are allowed to send a 100 word explanation in writing to the three credit bureaus (which they must print) as to why the debt is invalid. Also, many attorneys will take such a case on a contingency basis. A Violations of the fair debt collection act has a fee shifting rule (the creditor pays your attorney). Not only do you get the debt out of your life, you may get a financial award also. Be sure to write to your congress representative to have a stronger federal law to restore a ceiling on interest and to curtail these illegal collection practices. LEGAL DISCLAIMER Mr. Sarno is licensed to practice law in NJ and NY. His response here is not legal advice and does not create an attorney/ client relationship. The response is in the form of legal education and is intended to provide general information about the matter in question. Many times the questioner may leave out details which would make the reply unsuitable. Mr. Sarno strongly advises the questioner to confer with an attorney in their own state to acquire more information.

In regards to your bankruptcy question. The bankruptcy code is very clear on what assets you must declare in your case. ALL. So yes, you will have to tell the Court about your ownership interest in the company. However, there may be little to no value in the company. You will need to figure out, with your attorney (and an appraiser, if necessary) the value of the company. You may be able to exempt your entire interest in the company from the trustee. Also, as Attorney Sarno points out you may have a legal action against the company for not paying you. This potential action will also need to be declared in your bankruptcy filing. You should talk to a local lawyer who ill be more familiar with the laws in NY and will be ale to learn more about your case. If you need help finding a lawyer try your local bar association or the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (www.nacba.org). Good luck, Robert Kovacs

If you and your wife file for bankruptcy your interest in the corporation is considered an asset of the bankruptcy estate that must be disclosed in your bankruptcy schedules. The value of your interest will then need to be determined to see whether the shares can be liquidated for the benefit of creditors or whether its value is something that can be exempted and kept safe. From a practical standpoint, the trustee may request information about the assets and liabilities of the corporation to help him determine its value. If the net value of the corporation is zero, the shares would not be sold. Any information you have in that regard should be provided to the case trustee upon filing to assist him in his due diligence duties. If the trustee determines that there are non-exempt funds that would be available to creditors, he could try to liquidate the shares. The other thing you want to consider is that if you transfer your interest in shares to your brother in exchange for 25% of the proceeds of the sale of the asset, that the exchange is for equal value. If your 25% interest in the corporation is worth $20,000, you should make sure that the proceeds you receive are of a like amount. If you transfer your interest in shares for less than market value and then file bankruptcy, the trustee could in theory try to undo the transfer and resell your shares for their true value if doing so would generate non-exempt funds for creditor distribution. LEGAL DISCLAIMER Mr. Larkin is licensed to practice law in CA. His response here does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney/ client relationship. The response is in the form of legal education and is intended to provide general information about the matter in question. Many times the questioner may leave out details which would make the reply unsuitable. Mr. Larkin strongly advises the questioner to confer with an attorney in their own state to acquire more information about the specifics of their case.