Who Wins: A Chapter 13 Trustee or an Unrecorded Divorce Decree?

By Kara West, Staff Attorney for C. Kenneth Still, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Southern Division of the Eastern District of Tennessee (Chattanooga)

It seemed so simple at first. But soon I was headed down the rabbit hole and only a spirit board and strong pot of coffee could guide me back. The issue arose at confirmation on a Trustee’s objection to confirmation. Was the debtor paying as much to the unsecured creditors in her chapter 13 plan as such creditors would receive in a hypothetical chapter 7 liquidation?

The Facts

Schedule A . . .

It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members.

Or Sign In Below:

No Author Biography has been linked to this Article.

Recent Study of New Student Loan Discharge Process Shows Increase in Loan Litigation in Bankruptcy

Scott Waterman

February 2, 2025

While you may want to read all 44 pages, Trustee Waterman has done an excellent job of breaking it down.

Members

From the Editor – Dismissal

August 2, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Dismissal with 180-day bar affirmed. The debtors had filed eight Chapter 13 cases over eight years, with each dismissed, and in 2019 the spouses filed three more cases. A mortgage creditor moved for relief from the automatic stay and dismissal in each of the cases. The cases were dismissed with a 180-day bar...

Members

Critical Case Comment – “Extraordinary” Key to Set Aside Dismissal

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

November 13, 2022

Chapter 13 debtor must demonstrate extraordinary circumstances to justify the extraordinary relief of setting aside or “reconsidering” an order dismissing a Chapter 13 case. (Cary) In re Canas, 2022 WL 10707000 (Bankr. D. Ma. October 18, 2022) Case Summary Nelson and Annemarie Canas filed a Chapter 13 petition in August of 2019. The debtors immediately fell behind on their proposed...

Members

Whose Plan is it Anyway?

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

November 24, 2024

This case is more than meets the eye at first glance. Chapter 13 debtor cannot be compelled to propose a plan that delays vesting.

Members

Between the 1st and the 15th: Is Mortgage Current?

Cathy Moran

May 7, 2023

The no man’s land between the mortgage due date and late payment is a persistent trouble spot for Chapter 13 practitioners. For example, are there arrears when the case is filed during the grace period and the payment made before it was late? In Borre, Judge Ronald Sargis of ED CA said no. He held that the payment was not...

Members

Towering Victory: UT Law Shines Bright with Third Duberstein Moot Court Championship

Debbie Langehennig

January 12, 2025

Trustee Deborah Langehennig lead University of Texas to its third national Duberstein championship. GO DEB!!!!

“Stripping” Residential Mortgages and the Effect of 11 U.S.C. § 1111(b) – Part 2 Eleven Eleven What?

July 24, 2021

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Wonk Alert This Part 2 wraps up some suggestions about how the parties to residential mortgages may avoid or minimize problems in the structuring and administration of these loans, with a discussion of subsection 1111(b) of Bankruptcy Code.1 This discussion may seem arcane, as indeed many experienced Chapter 11 practitioners...

Members

The “Snapshot” Rule – Part 1: The Circuits Begin to Line Up

March 14, 2021

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Exemptions are determined at the time the debtor files for bankruptcy. … This maxim is called the "snapshot" rule because the debtor's financial situation is frozen in time, as if someone had taken a snapshot of it.1 Recent Caselaw The First and Ninth Circuits On March 1, the Ninth Circuit...

Members

Re-Examining the Means Test Cost of Home Ownership

Cathy Moran

June 2, 2024

Bankruptcy lawyers can better present non-mortgage homeownership expenses to reflect current economic realities on the means test. By advocating for realistic expense allowances, based on a percentage of the home’s purchase price, attorneys can ensure fairer assessments and more successful bankruptcy plans. Additionally, Trustees and Judges should look at Atty Moran’s analysis here – change will take the whole village.

Members

2022 Bankruptcy Procedure Year in Review: Revised Statute and Rules and Selected Cases Part 10 Once Again: The Supreme Court Hands Down a Procedure Rule in Dupree v. Younger

Lawrence R. Ahern, III

June 11, 2023

Introduction This series reviews developments in bankruptcy procedure during the past year. One new rule and amendments to 16 rules took effect December 1, 2022. Many reflected changes necessitated by the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA), and had been in place in the same or similar form on an interim basis since that legislation took effect.

Members