Hamilton v. Lanning, 560 U.S. —, 130 S.Ct. 2464 (2010)

By Professor M. Jonathan Hayes

Issue: May a Bankruptcy Court stray from the rigid formula in the Bankruptcy Code for computing the amount of a chapter 13 plan payment?

Holding: Yes, in “exceptional cases.”

Justice Samuel Alito for 8-1 court, Scalia dissented

This chapter 13 debtor proposed a plan to pay her creditors $144 per month for 36 months. That amount, according to the debtor was her “projected disposable income” under section 1325(b) for that period. The chapter 13 trustee, Jan Hamilton, objected arguing that her “projected disposable income” was . . .

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