If you prefer NOT to pay back wages to a present or prior employee, bankruptcy can help you use the law to prevent it being a priority debt.

Imagine that in the near future you’re closing down a business and filing bankruptcy. You owe an employee or independent contractor back wages or commissions. But you’d rather not pay that debt because you believe that employee had a major role in the business failing. You’d much rather have your scarce money go towards, for example, paying your income taxes. How do you use the law to your advantage to accomplish this?

If you prefer to pay back wages to a present or prior employee, you can do so in Chapter 13 especially well if that debt is a priority one.

Our last three blog posts have been about debts you owe to your employees or independent contractors. Specifically, we discussed the conditions under which past wages, commissions, or benefits qualify as a“priority” debt. These posts covered:

If you prefer to pay back wages to a present or prior employee, bankruptcy can help you do so if you use the law in that employee’s favor.

Our last two blog posts were about debts owed to your employees or independent contractors. Specifically we discussed the conditions in which past wages, commissions, or benefits qualify as “priority” debt. Two weeks ago we got into the conditions that apply to both employees and independent contractors. Last week the focus was on a special additional condition that only independent contractors must meet.

If you owe sales commissions to an independent contractor when you file bankruptcy, it may be a priority debt. Here’s what determines this.

Our last blog post was about conditions in which wages, commissions, or benefits owed to an employee are “priority” debt.

If you owe wages to an employee when you file bankruptcy, that may or not be a priority debt. Here’s what determines this and why it matters.

Our last dozen blog posts have been about “priority” debts. These are special unsecured debts that bankruptcy law treats better than the rest, called “general unsecured” debts.