Ask Ms. Ps & Qs

This series focuses on four bankruptcy-related bills that were enacted during the 116th Congress and signed into law on August 23, 2019.1 One bill, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA),2 appears in its entirety in Appendix B to this series and was summarized in Part I,3 along with the other bills signed on the same day. SBRA deals on its face with a non-consumer topic, but as we have seen, it will be of interest to Chapter 12 and 13 trustees, who may be asked to serve as small business Chapter 11 trustees.

Providing notice of a claim objection by sending it and the hearing notice to a designated email address does not satisfy the service requirements of FRBP 3007(a).

Once a Chapter 13 case is completed and the debtor receives a discharge, the trustee cannot seek to reopen the case for the purpose of grabbing an undisclosed, prepetition asset and then converting the case to a Chapter 7 so it could be administered.

“Several recent bankruptcy cases have considered the circumstances under which funds held in, derived from, or contributed to a retirement account may be exempt from the bankruptcy estate.”