Schulz, Attorney Katherine B

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My law practice is a debt-relief practice. I have been helping consumers file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code for almost thirty years, and I continue to help consumers file successfully in the current recession. The mission of my office is to provide the highest quality legal services at reasonable cost to financially troubled individuals in Eau Claire County, the Chippewa Valley and Western Wisconsin. - Attorney Katherine B. Schulz

A number of years ago I represented a widow in her early 60's in her Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. She was, of course, devastated at having to file, but realized that she had no other option. It has been too many years to remember the details of her situation, but I do recall with clarity her sitting across the desk from me with a puzzled look on her face as we discussed her major creditor, a local bank. "Why," she asked, "did the bank loan me the money if I couldn't pay it back? I trusted them."

As I read this article, this client from the past came to mind, and I wondered how many of these older folks facing bankruptcy still remember the years when one could trust the lender to evaluate the borrower's credit worthiness in good faith. Ahhh, the good old days.

Seniors, and anyone else facing possible bankruptcy, please do not deplete your retirement funds trying to keep up with medical bills, credit card debt, and the like. The US Supreme Court upheld the exemption in bankruptcy for individual IRA's. The same legislators who enacted the creditor-friendly 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act actually increased the protections for retirement accounts in bankruptcy. Moreover, retirement account funds are protected from creditors, whether you are filing bankruptcy or not. Do yourself a favor and don't trust your creditors when they suggest otherwise.