How Does Bankruptcy Affect my Injury Case in Mississippi?

How does bankruptcy affect my Mississippi injury case?

First, failure to disclose bankruptcy in your injury case can kill your injury case dead.  The problem is failing to disclose requires you to lie.  Lying kills a case.  Here’s how it happens:  You file a personal injury case, but you don’t tell your bankruptcy attorney about it.  You bankruptcy attorney files a list of all your assets but fails to include your pending injury case.  You have to sign that bankruptcy filing under oath.  The insurance company in your injury case finds out about it and requests that your injury case be dismissed because you lied under oath in the bankruptcy court.  If that happens, your case can, and most likely will be dismissed.  And it’s over.

You may think the injury case is not the bankruptcy court’s business.  But by law it is.  The court and the parties are entitled to know about it.

If you follow the law in Mississippi and disclose, how will it impact you?  In many cases it will not matter much, but it depends on what type of injury case it is.  If it is a personal injury case where someone else is at fault, the injury settlement or verdict can be subject to becoming part of the bankruptcy estate.  The best way to protect your settlement money in the end is to not file bankruptcy at all.  Many times, people file bankruptcy just to get creditors off their back.  This may not be reason alone to justify filing it.

If you have a worker’s comp case in Mississippi, the settlement would not be part of your bankruptcy estate, but the court is still allowed to consider it when looking at the big picture of your debt forgiveness or repayment plan.

The best thing to do if you think bankruptcy should be an option while you have a pending injury claim is for you to talk to an experienced Mississippi injury to find out how this can impact you personally. If you or a loved one is in this situation you can always call or text Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. At 601-948-8005.  We will consult with you for free.  It is confidential.  We will not tell anyone about the call unless you want us to.  We will give you practical advice and you will not get billed for it.  If you decide you need help on your injury case, there is never a fee unless we get you a successful recovery.