Are Your Loyalties Divided?

By Cathy Moran, Esq., (Redwood City, CA)

When a married couple books a bankruptcy consultation, you have an immediate problem: There be dragons, as early map makers helpfully provided.

Because, as a lawyer friend of mine says:

Anytime there are two people sitting across from you, you have a conflict of interest.

That pithy expression has stuck with me and made me continually aware that even a happily married couple may have different legal interests. Add a little marital discord, and . . .

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The Honorable William Houston Brown

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Eighth Circuit, like the Ninth, has ruled that when Chapter 13 cases are converted to Chapter 7, any increase in a debtor's home value beyond exemptions and liens becomes part of the Chapter 7 estate. See also: Critical Case Comment – Post-Petition/Pre-Conversion Equity

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David G. Peake

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Critical Case Comment – Time is of the Essence

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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From the Editor

March 31, 2019

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired) Debtor’s Attorney - Chapter 13 no-look fee subject to Hawai’i’s general excise tax. Construing the State’s excise tax, the Chapter 13 debtor’s attorney could not collect the required excise tax in addition to the agreed upon no-look fee. The district’s Rights and Responsibilities Agreement between debtor and attorney did not contain...

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Reaffirmations Impose Impossible Demands on Bankruptcy Counsel

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By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) When BAPCA gutted the ipso facto clause, reaffirmation was left as the only way a debtor could be assured of retaining his wheels. Car lenders took sides back then, then changed sides, on whether they would automatically repossess a vehicle when the debt was not reaffirmed. Some wanted the in terrorem effect of...

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