From the Editor – Dismissal

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Chapter 13 debtor had absolute right to dismiss. Facing a contested confirmation hearing, the debtor moved to dismiss the case, and his estranged spouse objected. Concluding that § 1307(b) provides an absolute right to dismiss a case that had not been previously converted, the court posed questions about whether there should be limits on this dismissal right, for example, when the debtor had engaged in bad faith actions. With no facts to establish an exception from the statute’s “shall dismiss” language, such questions were reserved for another day . . .

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