Joyce is on board! She's actually talking about manipulating her flight schedule in Louisville to do the interview. Stick her on the list with Sa Chen and Roberto Plano who think this thing is cool
( Read more... )
I don't have complete information either, and I am constantly struck by the fact that people often assume that if I'm slow getting something done there's some great meaning in it, when really it's probably that I just put it in the wrong stack. He's got so much that is going on -- 22 concerts in two months, moving to Israel, new baby "almost" here, him being able to do zippo to help, teacher just passed away, etc., etc. I would not be shocked to discover he's just let some things fall by the wayside. Especially if he's not really happy with American journalists. I was struck by what you said about that, because there was a lot of negative stuff said. I thought he'd given a nice interview to the Star-Telegram, but when I go back and look at the paper, it's not nice at all. Hardly any quotes, and all of those are jokes. Nothing serious at all. This could be a case of him being totally unwilling to reveal himself at all, too.
I'm not giving up -- no way. I'm going to call his manager at the Cliburn Foundation tomorrow. They haven't been overly generous, but maybe this is an opportunity to put the project in front of them again, anyway. If I can help her understand that this is going to be so favorable to him it would be crazy for him not to participate, she may be able to communicate that better than I have. No, I don't know if he's getting his email, but I sent him a letter -- overnight -- to where he was playing in El Paso, and they promised they would put it in his dressing room. Of course, if that's the first contact he got, that really wasn't all that long ago, because it was over the weekend.
I do understand your feelings about being "let down" though, and I really hope that doesn't happen here. There were a number of "inspirations" to the book -- as I said, Alexei Grynyuk was one of them -- but the connection Kobrin made with the young kids, the sincere belief they had in his integrity as an artist (it comes across even in the polite things Jonathan Tsay writes to me after the fact), was one of them. I believe that's still there. I will be very sorry not to be able to tell that story as well as I should, and in a way, to have it undermined a little. I want to believe -- and maybe a lot of people want to believe -- that he is really special. I believe I saw it -- I was not confused by that.
Maybe that's what I need to get across to the lady at the Cliburn Foundation.
Now, onto more important things. I got so overwhelmed with book and work (did 15 hours of work, too, this weekend) to try to get out of here that I didn't get to your email, but I'll try to do that today. If you want, we can get on the phone, perhaps Tuesday, and I can help you draft your chapter 13 plan. I have a form I use that is very user-friendly, and may help you make sense of it. Chapter 13 is NOT THAT HARD. People think it's hard and they miss out on big fees. You would be amazed how many chapter 7 hacks cannot do a thirteen.
Well, I'm glad that you are still thinking "Can-do" about Sasha. I have a feeling that he's going to come through. He comes across as very...not so much shy, as internal, if that makes sense. Added to that, I can picture him as the sort of man who is SO intent on his music that other stuff slips off his radar. *g* maybe you could write him a song to convince him to come? *has ex-boyfriends standing by*
Re: the Chapter 13- I appreciate all help. My clients are going to voluntarily convert. Do you have a sample motion for that? DOJ actually did a proposed plan which my clients could easily fund and seem to like...
Anyhow, hopefully I won't have to tresspass on your good graces much longer. I ordered the NCL bankruptcy book...(and I don't know if I am going to stay in the game after the changes- do you have any feelings on that?). I feel like I am abusing the privilege of being able to ask you questions, and I certainly don't want to be that way! I'm /slowly/ learning.
er...one more question though...In Kentucky, are you /ever/ allowed to use the Federal Exemptions? I looked at the statute and it seems to me that, unless you get in on the residency requirement, you can't? Or am I misreading it? Is it just that you can't mix and match?
The situation is: clients have a house worth $21,000 (free and clear). In April, they transferred it to their minor son (because there were a bunch of lawsuits filed against them). Clearly, they aren't going to meet the 1 year look back for insiders...Now, will it be treated like /cash/ or, if they could have exempted it before the transfer, would it be okay? I mean, if they could qualify for the federal exemption and /hadn't/ transferred it, they would have been fine (but I don't know if they could have qualified for the Federal Exemption), but under the state scheme they would still have 16,000 available to transfer? The answer to this question is more pressing than the Ch. 13 stuff. Thanks again *still embarassed for being a leech*
Here's the answer to that question quickly (got to go to Evansville and get myself a suitable black dress for all these concerts!).
Basic question: in Kentucky you are ALWAYS allowed to use the federal exemptions. So far, the only time I would be wary of using them would be where large (more than $1 million) in IRAs are at issue (read: will never happen) and that will only be after the law changes. I can't imagine a world in which you wouldn't want to use them.
Why, oh why do people engage in bankruptcy planning without talking to lawyers? Bankruptcy is so counterintuitive, they only end up screwed. These people really messed up, but we could get them out of it. To start: your basic analysis so far is correct. Now, if people transfer things within a month of coming to see me, I usually tell them to get it back and a trustee probably will not say anything. With a house and a transfer this old, however, they could be screwed. Reasons: first, the trustee will not buy an "oh they just messed up but within a few days they got it back, so there's no harm, no foul" argument; and second, when they gave the property away, they lost their equity, so even if they get it back, they got the equity back after they incurred their debts, and there is a rule somewhere that equity in a house that accumulates after debts are run up may not be exempt.
BUT . . . there is an exception to that rule, for gifts. If the son was to gift them the house back and they exempted it, I think the equity given via gift would be exempt (pretty much all of it under the federal exemptions). Now, the gift rule is one I've only dealt with a couple of times -- you'd want to take a look at it, and before I sort of "signed off" I'd want to as well, but that may get your clients out of this problem
Their only other solution is a 13 in which they pay back at least the 21,000. But that is a solution, too. I think (don't quote me) that solution will still exist under the new law, but I'm making no promises on new law to anyone until September 29 when I go to the UK CLE. And frankly, that's what you have to tell people, too. Even if a statute "looks" like it says something, I'm assuming nothing for sure until judges start ruling on things.
Just talked to my buddy who's an usher at Bass Hall; we're talking about getting together after Kobrin's recital. He's amazed I'm having trouble with Kobrin -- again, these ushers know these folks as well as anyone -- and he urged me to keep trying and to push the Cliburn Foundation. Frankly, I wonder if I unwittingly offended him or if there's an etiquette thing that I am confused on; Russia's a different country, and maybe he feels everything should go through the Foundation or something. Anyway, my usher buddy, Chuck, was also as practical as anyone I've talked to yet (wink!): "He only goes two places in town -- the Grape Escape and the Fox and Hound. We'll go to the Grape Escape, hope he comes in, and I'll tackle him for you!"
Never give up!
More seriously, unless I get an absolute "no" from the Foundation, I'm going to ask either Stanislav Ioudenitch or Roberto Plano to talk to him. I think both will do it, and I think both have a decent chance of succeeding.
Yeah, the 13 was the solution that I thought of. Their income is so tiny, however, that I don't know if they could fund a plan. I was thinking that, given they are WAY below the state median income, they may want to hold out for a year and then file the 7, but I think that they are already under a lot of pressure from their creditors/being sued.
The problem with the "gift" is that their son is a minor.If they pay on a 13 for a while, could they convert to a 7 later, or would the "look back" count from when they first filed?
Ah, well. This can be considered tomorrow. In the mean time, have fun shopping. I would love to be off shopping with you! There are not a lot of pretty black dresses out this year though :/ Let us know what you find!
That's a great plan about Kobrin *g* Your usher friend was a lucky find!
You know, I gave this issue some more thought as I drove over to Evansville, and the more I think about it, your approach of potentially exempting the equity strikes me as possibly having merit . . . let me run it past Frank or my other friend Harry. I tend to be loosy-goosey about some of these areas of law (I figure out "why it doesn't matter" as opposed to knowing the rule all too often), but he always knows them right on point. I'm thinking about rules related to preferential transfers, where you can exempt them. I doubt it would work, but I don't want to completely mark it off the list.
Re: Buy, what great advice --morsefanOctober 27 2005, 17:51:49 UTC
I did a long rant on kirixchi's journal about the perfidies of women's clothing today. I wanted something sort of flowing, and I'd finally decided mini-skirt and way above the knee, which is my normal approach, was not what I wanted now. Plus, it couldn't be "too" fancy, because I wanted to be able to wear it even to less formal venues.
Well, in women's wear these days, I see two choices: the selections for the over sixty crowd and hookerwear. Neither met my needs (wink!). I ended up with something pretty close to what I wanted: lace top tight enough that it looks like it is actually connected to the knee-length flowing skirt below. Most people probably think it's a dress, and a friend of mine from Allegro Circle (a group for Cliburn volunteers and young professionals who attend Cliburn events -- Jose Feghali is the speaker over dinner at the City Club) actually complimented me on it! That never happens!
No pics of Van and I unfortunately. I did have a chance for an autograph, because he stands around the Bass Hall foyer talking to anyone who wants to when he attends the competition. But the best time, when I actually had my program, all the TCU students saw him when I did, and I was just enjoying watching them be so excited that I never bothered. When I was "a kid" -- a 21-year-old Congressional staff member -- I just happened to snag an opportunity to attend a lunch where George Will was speaking about baseball when the Cincinnati Reds were in town (they won the series that year). I got assigned to be Tom Browning's lunch partner -- is that cool or what? Anyway, I wanted to talk to George Will -- just a few words. But these adults (like I am now), kept pushing me away so they could suck up to him. Finally, he pushed them away, and made something of a show of giving me a lot of attention, as well as his autograph, etc. Anyway, I'll always remember that, and I didn't want to be the "bad adult" who muscled in on the kids this time either.
BTW -- are you "in?" This is an open post more by mistake that I've never bothered to fix, but email if you can't access closed posts. You should be able to at this point.
Re: Buy, what great advice --morsefanOctober 27 2005, 21:32:41 UTC
I apologize profusely about my baseball situation; I have totally missed the season. I blame the Cliburn. What it took to be able to go and what it took to survive after I got back was too much to allow me to do much of anything else all summer and fall. I was glad last year I got to see Greg Maddux's 300th win and then I saw (last year?) Greg pitch against Tommy. If I remember, Tommy got his ass kicked, but that wasn't his fault. When I was a little younger, Tommy Glavine was my great hero. I lost some of my interest in baseball when he left the Braves. They promised the fans they would never let him leave. He had always been important to me, but I never realized how much. I do need to follow next season, though. I'm afraid I'll miss his and Greg's "last games," and I would hate myself forever. Glavine in particular was to me everything that was good. I remember watching taped Braves games to prepare for law school exams: ordinary people could do extraordinary things and anything was possible!
Tom Browning was so WONDERFUL!! He is one of my ultimate heros. He didn't have to be nice. Sure, I was 21, long blond hair, probably a pretty good deal from his perspective, but he was married (his wife wasn't there because she delivered during the Series) and I was a bit of a hick, if you know what I mean. Yet he sat there and talked to me like I was an equal. It wasn't even a matter of his answering questions from me; it was a true conversation between two people. He told me a little gossip about George Will -- he did motivational speeches for the Oakland As that season so the Cincinnati folks were a little iffy about him being there, but he is a friend of my boss, who was a Congressman from Cincinnati -- and that his hero was Jim Bunning. "Oh, I worked on his gubernatorial campaign," I said, and he was pretty impressed. We just had some great connections!
Oh, and as to the "losing the equity" stuff. Here's the deal. This is a rule I really, really, really don't know because it has never come up in anything I've ever done. But what I do know is that if you sell your house and have $21,000 in a bank account (I would segregate it, but I'm not sure that's absolutely necessary -- but you would end up litigating it, so that's what a person should do), for a certain period of time after the sale, the money is still exempt. I "know" this is true under the state exemptions. I "think" it is true under federal exemptions. After some period of time, and I don't know how long, it stops being exempt as equity in a residence. If you just "give" all your equity away, you don't have it as you would in a sale, so you don't have the benefit of that rule, and I thought maybe the rule would be 6 months (worth checking) which would protect the equity if it came back. I doubt it, but that's what I was speculating in my mind when I wrote what I did.
I'm not giving up -- no way. I'm going to call his manager at the Cliburn Foundation tomorrow. They haven't been overly generous, but maybe this is an opportunity to put the project in front of them again, anyway. If I can help her understand that this is going to be so favorable to him it would be crazy for him not to participate, she may be able to communicate that better than I have. No, I don't know if he's getting his email, but I sent him a letter -- overnight -- to where he was playing in El Paso, and they promised they would put it in his dressing room. Of course, if that's the first contact he got, that really wasn't all that long ago, because it was over the weekend.
I do understand your feelings about being "let down" though, and I really hope that doesn't happen here. There were a number of "inspirations" to the book -- as I said, Alexei Grynyuk was one of them -- but the connection Kobrin made with the young kids, the sincere belief they had in his integrity as an artist (it comes across even in the polite things Jonathan Tsay writes to me after the fact), was one of them. I believe that's still there. I will be very sorry not to be able to tell that story as well as I should, and in a way, to have it undermined a little. I want to believe -- and maybe a lot of people want to believe -- that he is really special. I believe I saw it -- I was not confused by that.
Maybe that's what I need to get across to the lady at the Cliburn Foundation.
Now, onto more important things. I got so overwhelmed with book and work (did 15 hours of work, too, this weekend) to try to get out of here that I didn't get to your email, but I'll try to do that today. If you want, we can get on the phone, perhaps Tuesday, and I can help you draft your chapter 13 plan. I have a form I use that is very user-friendly, and may help you make sense of it. Chapter 13 is NOT THAT HARD. People think it's hard and they miss out on big fees. You would be amazed how many chapter 7 hacks cannot do a thirteen.
Reply
Re: the Chapter 13- I appreciate all help. My clients are going to voluntarily convert. Do you have a sample motion for that? DOJ actually did a proposed plan which my clients could easily fund and seem to like...
Anyhow, hopefully I won't have to tresspass on your good graces much longer. I ordered the NCL bankruptcy book...(and I don't know if I am going to stay in the game after the changes- do you have any feelings on that?). I feel like I am abusing the privilege of being able to ask you questions, and I certainly don't want to be that way! I'm /slowly/ learning.
er...one more question though...In Kentucky, are you /ever/ allowed to use the Federal Exemptions? I looked at the statute and it seems to me that, unless you get in on the residency requirement, you can't? Or am I misreading it? Is it just that you can't mix and match?
The situation is: clients have a house worth $21,000 (free and clear). In April, they transferred it to their minor son (because there were a bunch of lawsuits filed against them). Clearly, they aren't going to meet the 1 year look back for insiders...Now, will it be treated like /cash/ or, if they could have exempted it before the transfer, would it be okay? I mean, if they could qualify for the federal exemption and /hadn't/ transferred it, they would have been fine (but I don't know if they could have qualified for the Federal Exemption), but under the state scheme they would still have 16,000 available to transfer? The answer to this question is more pressing than the Ch. 13 stuff. Thanks again *still embarassed for being a leech*
Reply
Basic question: in Kentucky you are ALWAYS allowed to use the federal exemptions. So far, the only time I would be wary of using them would be where large (more than $1 million) in IRAs are at issue (read: will never happen) and that will only be after the law changes. I can't imagine a world in which you wouldn't want to use them.
Why, oh why do people engage in bankruptcy planning without talking to lawyers? Bankruptcy is so counterintuitive, they only end up screwed. These people really messed up, but we could get them out of it. To start: your basic analysis so far is correct. Now, if people transfer things within a month of coming to see me, I usually tell them to get it back and a trustee probably will not say anything. With a house and a transfer this old, however, they could be screwed. Reasons: first, the trustee will not buy an "oh they just messed up but within a few days they got it back, so there's no harm, no foul" argument; and second, when they gave the property away, they lost their equity, so even if they get it back, they got the equity back after they incurred their debts, and there is a rule somewhere that equity in a house that accumulates after debts are run up may not be exempt.
BUT . . . there is an exception to that rule, for gifts. If the son was to gift them the house back and they exempted it, I think the equity given via gift would be exempt (pretty much all of it under the federal exemptions). Now, the gift rule is one I've only dealt with a couple of times -- you'd want to take a look at it, and before I sort of "signed off" I'd want to as well, but that may get your clients out of this problem
Their only other solution is a 13 in which they pay back at least the 21,000. But that is a solution, too. I think (don't quote me) that solution will still exist under the new law, but I'm making no promises on new law to anyone until September 29 when I go to the UK CLE. And frankly, that's what you have to tell people, too. Even if a statute "looks" like it says something, I'm assuming nothing for sure until judges start ruling on things.
Just talked to my buddy who's an usher at Bass Hall; we're talking about getting together after Kobrin's recital. He's amazed I'm having trouble with Kobrin -- again, these ushers know these folks as well as anyone -- and he urged me to keep trying and to push the Cliburn Foundation. Frankly, I wonder if I unwittingly offended him or if there's an etiquette thing that I am confused on; Russia's a different country, and maybe he feels everything should go through the Foundation or something. Anyway, my usher buddy, Chuck, was also as practical as anyone I've talked to yet (wink!): "He only goes two places in town -- the Grape Escape and the Fox and Hound. We'll go to the Grape Escape, hope he comes in, and I'll tackle him for you!"
Never give up!
More seriously, unless I get an absolute "no" from the Foundation, I'm going to ask either Stanislav Ioudenitch or Roberto Plano to talk to him. I think both will do it, and I think both have a decent chance of succeeding.
Reply
The problem with the "gift" is that their son is a minor.If they pay on a 13 for a while, could they convert to a 7 later, or would the "look back" count from when they first filed?
Ah, well. This can be considered tomorrow. In the mean time, have fun shopping. I would love to be off shopping with you! There are not a lot of pretty black dresses out this year though :/ Let us know what you find!
That's a great plan about Kobrin *g* Your usher friend was a lucky find!
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BTW, what did you finally pick out for a suitable black dress?
And is there a photo of you in it with VC? (Wouldn't that make a great cover or author shot for the book? (-: )
jy
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Well, in women's wear these days, I see two choices: the selections for the over sixty crowd and hookerwear. Neither met my needs (wink!). I ended up with something pretty close to what I wanted: lace top tight enough that it looks like it is actually connected to the knee-length flowing skirt below. Most people probably think it's a dress, and a friend of mine from Allegro Circle (a group for Cliburn volunteers and young professionals who attend Cliburn events -- Jose Feghali is the speaker over dinner at the City Club) actually complimented me on it! That never happens!
No pics of Van and I unfortunately. I did have a chance for an autograph, because he stands around the Bass Hall foyer talking to anyone who wants to when he attends the competition. But the best time, when I actually had my program, all the TCU students saw him when I did, and I was just enjoying watching them be so excited that I never bothered. When I was "a kid" -- a 21-year-old Congressional staff member -- I just happened to snag an opportunity to attend a lunch where George Will was speaking about baseball when the Cincinnati Reds were in town (they won the series that year). I got assigned to be Tom Browning's lunch partner -- is that cool or what? Anyway, I wanted to talk to George Will -- just a few words. But these adults (like I am now), kept pushing me away so they could suck up to him. Finally, he pushed them away, and made something of a show of giving me a lot of attention, as well as his autograph, etc. Anyway, I'll always remember that, and I didn't want to be the "bad adult" who muscled in on the kids this time either.
BTW -- are you "in?" This is an open post more by mistake that I've never bothered to fix, but email if you can't access closed posts. You should be able to at this point.
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Hmmmm. (-: (wink wink, nudge nudge, thank you very much!) Goes well with
"... mini-skirt and way above the knee, which is my normal approach ..."
Wow.
Sounds like you made a VERY classy final choice, though.
"I got assigned to be Tom Browning's lunch partner -- is that cool or what?"
Majorly. Would love to hear more about that.
BTW, what is wrong with baseball this year? First the Angels wimp out, and now the Astros -- both after playing extremely well?
"BTW -- are you 'in'?"
Yes.
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Tom Browning was so WONDERFUL!! He is one of my ultimate heros. He didn't have to be nice. Sure, I was 21, long blond hair, probably a pretty good deal from his perspective, but he was married (his wife wasn't there because she delivered during the Series) and I was a bit of a hick, if you know what I mean. Yet he sat there and talked to me like I was an equal. It wasn't even a matter of his answering questions from me; it was a true conversation between two people. He told me a little gossip about George Will -- he did motivational speeches for the Oakland As that season so the Cincinnati folks were a little iffy about him being there, but he is a friend of my boss, who was a Congressman from Cincinnati -- and that his hero was Jim Bunning. "Oh, I worked on his gubernatorial campaign," I said, and he was pretty impressed. We just had some great connections!
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I love using this icon for comments like this (LOL!). He would laugh himself silly.
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That's of course a given. But you must also admit, you did offer a small description (wink!).
"I love using this icon for comments like this (LOL!). He would laugh himself silly."
As am I.
I'm answering by e-mail so will log onto the site and see which face you are showing me now. (-:
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