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.
Based on the broad definition given the word “claim,” a creditor has standing to bring a nondischargeability suit against an individual debtor for embezzlement when the debtor didn’t embezzle from the.....
On an important issue about judicial estoppel in bankruptcy cases, the Fifth Circuit handed down a nonprecedential opinion on January 13 raising exactly the same issue coming before the Supreme Court.....
The amendment to Bankruptcy Rule 2003(e) didn’t create a bright-line rule automatically cutting off the time for objecting to exemptions when the trustee doesn’t announce and file a statement.....
Debtors and trustees should read a Fifth Circuit opinion to understand how the sale of a debtor’s claims should be structured to prevent the sale from being champertous and void.
The debtor severely.....
In a split decision, the majority on the Fifth Circuit panel are requiring chapter 13 debtors to accelerate the repayment of nondischargeable student loans when there is available disposable income.....
Reversing the bankruptcy court, a district judge in San Antonio explained why making estimated tax payments isn’t a fraudulent transfer to the Internal Revenue Service.
For 2020, a couple’s tax.....
After a chapter 7 discharge, suing on an unsecured loan agreement that had been dressed up to look like a sale of the debtor’s homestead didn’t let the lender off the hook under Taggart. In a.....
After discharge, state and federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction to decide whether a debt was discharged.
Allowing a state court to decide a discharge question is risky, for reasons shown in a.....
The Fifth Circuit expanded Bartenwerfer by holding a debt to be nondischargeable when the debtor was neither a partner nor an agent nor the person who himself committed the fraud.
The October 16.....
Student loans consolidated after filing cannot be discharged even on a showing of “undue hardship,” for reasons explained by Bankruptcy Judge Shad M. Robinson of Austin, Texas.
The debtor filed a.....