James P. Caher & John M. Caher 
Personal Bankruptcy Laws For Dummies [EPUB ebook] 

Introduction 1
Part I: Bankruptcy: The Big Picture 7
Chapter 1: Considering Bankruptcy 9
Chapter 2: Stopping the Bleeding 27
Chapter 3: Meeting the Players 47
Chapter 4: Deciding Which Type of Bankruptcy Is Best for You
57
Chapter 5: Confronting the Means Test 69
Chapter 6: Getting from Here to There: The Bankruptcy Process
91
Part II: Avoiding Bankruptcy 115
Chapter 7: Considering Alternatives to Bankruptcy 117
Chapter 8: Handling Bill Collectors 135
Chapter 9: Negotiating with the IRS 145
Part III: Keeping Your Stuff 153
Chapter 10: Understanding Which Assets Are Off Limits to
Creditors 155
Chapter 11: Dealing with Secured Debts 173
Chapter 12: Saving Your Home 183
Part IV: Getting Rid of (Most of) Your Debt 199
Chapter 13: Lingering Obligations 201
Chapter 14: A House of Cards: Wiping Out Credit-Card Debts
215
Chapter 15: Give unto Caesar: Using Bankruptcy to Deal with Tax
Debts 223
Chapter 16: The Devil Made Me Do It: Fines, Fraud, and Other
Foibles 237
Chapter 17: Till Debt Due Us Part: Bankruptcy and Divorce
247
Chapter 18: Student Loans and Other Mind Games 257
Part V: Strategies for a Successful Bankruptcy 271
Chapter 19: Avoiding Troubles with Your Trustee 273
Chapter 20: Living on the Edge in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy 283
Part VI: Enjoying Your Fresh Start 305
Chapter 21: Repairing Your Credit 307
Chapter 22: Staying Out of Financial Trouble 319
Part VII: The Part of Tens 327
Chapter 23: Ten Common Bankruptcy Mistakes 329
Chapter 24: Ten Things You Can Do Right Now to Ease Your
Financial Woes 333
Chapter 25: Ten Common Questions about Bankruptcy 337
Appendix: Homestead Exemption Laws 343
Index 347

James P. Caher, a practicing attorney with 30 years of
experience, is a nationally recognized expert on consumer
bankruptcies and authority on the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and
Consumer Protection Act of 2005.
Jim coauthored, with his brother John, Debt Free! Your Guide to
Personal Bankruptcy Without Shame (Henry Holt, 1996) and two
highly regarded books for lawyers: Discharging Marital
Obligations in Bankruptcy (LRP, 1997) and Discharging Credit
Card Debts in Bankruptcy (LRP, 1998).
In addition, Jim has published scores of articles for bankruptcy
professionals and is frequently called upon to analyze and
interpret the complicated provisions of the 2005 bankruptcy law. He
was labeled the ‘online guru’ by a national legal
weekly because of his regular appearances on the Internet as an
expert analyst on bankruptcy law. Jim also serves on the editorial
board of the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Jim graduated from Niagara University and then earned his law
degree from Memphis State University Law School, where he was a
member of the Law Review and recipient of the American
Jurisprudence Award for Excellence in the field of debtor-creditor
relations. He filed his first consumer bankruptcy case shortly
after graduating in 1975. Jim lives and practices in Eugene,
Oregon.
John M. Caher is a legal journalist who has written about
law and the courts for most of his 25-year career.
Currently the Albany bureau chief for the New York Law
Journal, John previously was state editor and legal affairs
reporter for the Times Union of Albany, New York. His legal
reportage has won more than two dozen awards, including prestigious
honors from the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar
Association, the Erie County Bar Association, and the Associated
Press.
John coauthored, with his brother Jim, Debt Free! Your Guide to
Personal Bankruptcy Without Shame (Henry Holt, 1996). He is the
author of King of the Mountain: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of
Chief Judge Sol Wachtler (Prometheus Books, 1998). In addition,
John was the principal writer assisting former U.S. Treasury
Secretary William E. Simon in preparation of his memoirs. Mr.
Simon’s autobiography, A Time for Reflection, was
published in 2003 by Regnery.
John is a 1980 graduate of Utica College of Syracuse University,
where he received his bachelor’s degree in journalism, and a
1993 graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he earned
a master’s degree in technical communications/graphics. John
lives in Clifton Park, New York.