In the coming 2010 year, three states will be eligible for larger bankruptcy exemptions. These three states include Wisconsin, California and North Carolina.

The legislation passed last year has already gone into effect in Wisconsin, which began its “homestead exemption” increase to $75,000 as of December 2009. This is a vast increase from the previous exemption limit at $40,000. Furthermore, this exemption can be expanded when a married couple jointly files, bringing the total to about $150,000.

California has also increased its homestead exemption since the beginning of this month. The new exemption figures are $75,000 for an individual and $100,000 for jointly filed couples. There are also special requirements for older seniors that will let them enjoy a $175,000 exemption.

North Carolina’s exemption nearly doubled, and now resides at $35,000 for individuals as of December of last year. There is also a $65,000 homestead exemption if you are over 65 and other specific circumstances permit.

If you are currently suffering through financial difficulty bankruptcy may be the best solution for you. Call 800-260-1402 to speak with an attorney that can provide you with the most up to date information about personal bankruptcy and how it can help you get your life back.

Call it a budget crunch from a certain impending “Arch”.  Casual sit-down restaurants are feeling the blunt from notorious “Dollar Menus”, and their wait staff struggling to make ends meet.  Some of the casualties in the trend of casual restaurant bankruptcy include Steak and Ale and Ponderosa, which both shut down 50 of their restaurant locations, and Bennigan’s, which lost 150 locations in the same parent company Metromedia Restaurant Group’s recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy. 

What this bankruptcy means is that company owned Ponderosa Steakhouses and Bennigans’ will close, while self-sustaining franchises will not be affected. Other parent companies, like the owners of Bakers Square, have been more fortunate, filing for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy, but the trend worries investors.

Not all small business restaurants are hurting—but many are forced to downsize by closing less profitable chain locations and cutting staff.  Applebees has made short-term adjustments to lay off employees in order to avoid bankruptcy, as has Olive Garden—they continue to present stubborn competition to even more helpless small restaurant owners.

For these “casual” restaurant chains, avoiding bankruptcy means instigating lay-offs and unemployment.  Unemployment means less restaurant patrons—this self-serving cycle won’t necessarily go on infinitely, but a lack of business bankruptcies can sometimes mean increased personal bankruptcy.  If you’ve been thrown under the bus by a company like Applebees, you probably resent the debt they’ve caused you.  Still, bankruptcy can help you start fresh—please call 1-800-260-1402 for a free initial bankruptcy consultation.

2009 saw an increase in bankruptcies over 2008 in all 50 states. Whether a result of the federal government, the banks or personal risk-taking, the facts remain the same. Americans found themselves in staggering debt, often solved only by filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties where you cannot pay off your credit card debt or make your car or mortgage payments, filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be the best answer for you. Filing for bankruptcy protection may allow you to start a new financial life. Filing for bankruptcy is a very serious matter. You need serious legal advice as to how you should prepare, file and recover from bankruptcy filing. You need the team of professional, smart and caring lawyers from Legal Helpers. Make 2010 your decade to get out of debt and start over, with a free consultation from a Legal Helpers bankruptcy attorney. Please call Legal Helpers today, toll-free today at 800-260-1402.

Following is a list of all 50 states, with their percentage of increase of bankruptcy filings of 2009 over those of 2008. Statistics are from the National Bankruptcy Research Center.