When there’s a joint bank account and a bankruptcy filing, good intentions can quickly go sour. The bankruptcy trustee sees a pile of money in the bank to which the debtor has access, even though the account also bears the name of someone not in bankruptcy. If the debtor can get the money, the trustee contends, so can a bankruptcy...

By Veronica D. Brown-Moseley, Boleman Law Firm, P.C. (Virginia Beach, VA) Many things can, and often do, change between the time debtors file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition and the end of their case. A variety of circumstances impact a debtor’s ability to afford their Chapter 13 plan payments, including but not limited to: medical problems, disability, loss of employment,...

By Mark S. Wheeler, Staff Attorney to M.O. Marshall, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee (Chicago, IL) (Used with expressed permission. Published February 2021 in the Northern District of Illinois Bankruptcy Court Liaison Committee Newsletter.) Despite appearing before the Senior Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois perhaps hundreds of times over the last 29 years, I was uncharacteristically nervous to...

By Wayne Silver, Wayne Silver Law (Redwood City, CA) The 120-day CARES Act eviction moratorium expired on Saturday, July 25. At the expiration of the moratorium, landlords covered by the federal moratorium could begin serving eviction notices, and begin filing eviction lawsuits 30 days thereafter. That means on Monday, August 24, 2020 the moratorium on evictions expired, while we face...

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.

Dear Readers: There are some basic truths. One is that when someone says, “hey, watch this!,” the result is likely to involve blood or stitches. Another is that, when an author describes something with the leadoff word, “interestingly,” it often isn’t. And a third is that one shouldn’t mislead bankruptcy judges. In two wonderfully written cases, bankruptcy judges made this...

By William Houston Brown, Co-chair of the Commission and Adviser to the Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education The Report of the Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy for improvements to the consumer bankruptcy system was made public on April 11, 2019. The full report is available free by download from the American Bankruptcy Institute’s website, www.abi.org. The following Foreward to the Report...

(Yep, there are lots of them right now!!) Jennifer K. Cruseturner currently serves as a Chapter 13 Standing Trustee in the Western District of Tennessee, Western Division. After an extended retirement process for George Stevenson (he never could do anything in ‘normal’ fashion!), Jennifer was appointed as Stevenson’s successor on May 1, 2023.   Jennifer graduated from Newcomb College of...

By Cathy Moran, Esq., Moran Law Group (Redwood City, CA) On its face, Diaz (Diaz v. Viegelahn, No. 19-50982 (5th Cir. Aug. 26, 2020)) is a pretty straightforward decision that struck down a local form plan as violating a below-median income debtor's right to use her tax refund to finance necessary expenses for maintenance and support. On a deeper level,...