Joining the Tenth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit also has held that chapter 13 trustees are not paid their fees when cases are dismissed before confirmation. The identical issue was argued on February 15 before the Second Circuit.
In short order, we’ll have either unanimity or a split of circuits. A split will give rise to an issue worthy of a grant of certiorari by the Supreme Court.
Notably, the Ninth Circuit’s opinion on June 12 adopted reasoning in an amicus brief filed in support of the debtor by the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center and National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.
On an issue where the circuits are divided, the First Circuit upheld the two lower courts by ruling that a homestead exemption, valid on the chapter 13 filing date, is not lost if the debtor sells the.....
Another Workaround Following the Prohibition of Nunc Pro Tunc Orders
Even though the Supreme Court has virtually prohibited the entry of orders nunc pro tunc, a bankruptcy court is not precluded from.....
The Sixth Circuit became the first appeals court to rule on whether a chapter 13 debtor may deduct contributions to a 401(k) plan from “disposable income” and thereby reduce payments to unsecured.....
Believing that Supreme Court authority on preferences didn’t govern, the First Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel ruled that funds allegedly withdrawn from a retirement account before the filing date.....
When the sweeping language of a landmark Supreme Court opinion conflicted with the statute, Chief Bankruptcy Judge Phillip J. Shefferly of Detroit followed the statute.
In Harris v. Viegelahn, 575 U.S.....
The so-called snapshot rule, calling for valuation of a chapter 7 debtor’s property as of the filing date, doesn’t apply when the debtor moves to compel the trustee to abandon under Section 554(b).....
In Taggart, the Supreme Court raised the bar on holding a creditor in contempt for violating the automatic stay. Some might say that the high court defanged the discharge. See Taggart v. Lorenzen, 139.....
In August, Congress adopted the so-called HAVEN Act, which allows military veterans to exclude disability benefits from the calculation of “current monthly income.” In practical terms, the new law.....
On an issue where the lower courts are split, the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel held that a pre-petition personal guaranty is a contingent debt that is discharged, even as to post-petition.....
A $300,000 debt for life-saving, emergency medical treatment was not a “consumer” debt because it was not “voluntarily” incurred, according to Bankruptcy Judge C. Kathryn Preston of Columbus, Ohio.
A.....