6th Circuit

Detroit’s Judge Randon holds that a chapter 13 plan’s five-year duration begins to run from the first payment, not from confirmation.

Private charity is not considered to be part of a debtor’s income under the first part of the Brunner test.

Although Social Security benefits are not subject to the “operation of any bankruptcy or insolvency law,” judge says they can be considered in deciding whether someone should be allowed to confirm a chapter 13 plan or have a chapter 7 case dismissed for ‘abuse.’

Two judges agree that the CARES Act amendment allowing chapter 13 plans to run for seven years is applicable only to plans confirmed before March 27.

The Supreme Court hasn’t prohibited paying counsel fees for services rendered before the entry of a retention order, Judge Preston says.

Sixth Circuit is the first court of appeals to take sides on a lower court split and opine that continuing to make voluntary contributions to retirement plans is excluded from ‘disposable income.’

If a chapter 13 plan isn’t confirmed, the debtor’s counsel is paid.

Equity in property at the time of a hearing, not at filing, decides whether the court should compel abandonment, Sixth Circuit says.

Judge Shefferly writes a complicated opinion on the retroactivity of the HAVEN Act to cases filed prior to enactment.

Courts are split on whether a personal guaranty survives bankruptcy.