Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

My 69 yr old unmarried brother is incarcerated in California. He will be going to federal prison for 5 - 10 years. My sister who lives in Illinois has Power of Attorney.

My brother no longer has a car and the belongings in his apartment have been sent to my sister and me or given away per my brother's instructions.

He has over $70,000 in credit card debt and is receiving social security. My question is 2-fold.

Should he file Chapter 7 bankruptcy since he has no assets?

Can that be done by my sister through an attorney in Illinois where we live or does she have to get an attorney from California? Thank you.


Asked on 8/06/10, 7:16 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert DeMarco DeMarco-Mitchell, PLLC

Filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy might be a good idea.

Proper venue for the case is California (assuming he has lived there the greater of the last 180 days).

Should consult with California counsel. Power of attorney alone may not be enough for him to receive a discharge. When I resided in California, I represented a number of debtors that "resided" in Folsom Prison. In those cases we would usually proceed by written questions to the debtor. As regards signing of documents, I would often meet the inmate at the facility to accomplish that. Note, in all my cases this was done with the aid of the inmate's spouse.

The fact that property was "given away" is troubling. Depending on what was transfered and its value, this could be an issue in the bankruptcy.

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Answered on 8/11/10, 7:27 am


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