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Many of our clients present us with these questions, especially during tax season. The simple answer to these questions is… maybe…

This area of questions is actually quite complicated.  If you find yourself presented with these types of questions, we recommend seeking the assistance of your tax advisor or a tax professional.

To give you an overview of this area, I will address these areas one issue at a time.

In the practice of law, it is never acceptable to miss a deadline upon which you are required to file a document.  In most circumstances,  failure to meet a deadline can be fatal to your case.

Fortunately, if you have missed the deadline upon which you must file an appeal of an unfavorable decision by the Social Security Administration (SSA), it does not always spell the end of your application for disability benefits.

The short answer to this question is NO. Once you file any form of bankruptcy, the automatic stay takes effect. It is a clear violation of the automatic stay for a creditor to activate a car shut off device after the filing of a bankruptcy.

Capital One Tricking Customers to Collect Debts

YES, it is extremely important that you file a tax return on time to avoid having penalties assessed against you.  If you cannot afford to pay the IRS in one lump sum, pay as much as you can with the return.  By filing your tax return on time you avoid having a late filing penalty fee assessed by the IRS.  In addition, you will be able to reduce the amount of interest assessed when you pay as much as you

Many times creditors and debt collectors will coerce, usually by harassment, people into allowing them to take money directly from their checking or savings bank accounts. You have an absolute right to stop this seizure of your money at any time.

 
Theoretically speaking, they can last the rest of your life.

Practically speaking, there are a number of reasons why they may not.

Despite having been approved for disability benefits by the Social Security Administration (SSA) at some point during the application process, your claim may be periodically subjected to a Continuing Disability Review (CDR) by its Disability Determination Service (DDS) to determine if you are still eligible for benefits.

Scammers seem to get savvier every day. There is a new scam going on that begins with a phone call, usually to your cell phone. I have received a few of these calls myself on my cell phone. The caller will tell you that you have won either the Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes or a Caribbean cruise. Sounds great…right? Wrong!  My first clue was that I had not entered a Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes in many years!

This is a question that we often get asked when someone is contemplating filing for bankruptcy. First of all, if someone has perfect credit, meaning that they have never been behind on any debts, then filing for bankruptcy will hurt their credit dramatically.