Do I Really Have to Tell the Trustee About Newly Acquired Assets?

It has long been a vexing question for Trustees and attorneys alike: do Debtors have to disclose assets acquired post-petition? In a lengthy and well-documented opinion, Chief Bankruptcy Court Judge John Waites of South Carolina has presented his take on this issue and concluded, with some important exceptions, that they do not. The case is In re Thomas L. Boyd, Bankr. S.C., #13-02924-JW (7/17/20 opinion).

The Debtor filed his Chapter 13 case in May, 2013. In July, 2018, while still in Chapter 13, he suffered injuries from an . . .

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Herbert L. Beskin

Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Western District of Virginia (Retired) (Charlottesville)

Herbert L. Beskin practiced consumer bankruptcy law for 25 years in Charlottesville before being appointed a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee for the Western District of Virginia in 2003. He has been a Virginia CLE lecturer since 1993, has written articles for The Virginia Lawyer and The NACTT Academy’s website ConsiderChapter13.org, and has taught law related courses at both the University of Virginia and Piedmont Virginia Community College. From 1991 to 1997 he served on the Board of Governors of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the Virginia State Bar. He has co-authored two chapters of the Virginia CLE publication Bankruptcy Practice in Virginia: Chapter 7 practice in the 1st edition with Douglas Little, and Chapter 13 practice in the 2nd and 3rd editions with Judge Rebecca Connelly. Herb retired in 2023.

From the Editor – Plan Modification

March 21, 2021

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) For modification purposes, best interests test remains at petition date. In an examination of post-confirmation sale of the debtor’s home that yielded excess of homestead exemption, the Court concluded that the best-interests of creditors’ calculation was performed as of the petition date, rather than time of modification. Section 1329 does not provide a...

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Critical Case Comment

August 1, 2021

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) While the debtors failed to meet the high threshold to establish excusable neglect to permit their claim filed on behalf of a creditor after the bar date to be allowed, where a Chapter 13 case is dismissed and then reinstated prior to the expiration of the bar date, the...

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Ask Ms. Ps & Qs

Nancy B. Rapoport

August 7, 2022

Dear Readers: When a judge issues a 28-page opinion sanctioning a lawyer, usually that means that the lawyer has done so many things wrong that he or she has caused the judge to roll up his or her respective sleeves (probably shirt-sleeves, although the image of robe-sleeves also works for me) to deal with the mess. And in Shiheiber v....

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There is NO MORE Form 1040A or 1040EZ – Six New Schedules Some Taxpayers Will File with New Form 1040

March 17, 2019

The 2018 Form 1040 replaces prior year Forms 1040, 1040A and 1040EZ. The 2018 Form 1040 uses a building-block approach that allows individuals to file only the schedules they need with their federal tax return. Many people will only need to file Form 1040 and no schedules. Electronic filers may not notice these changes as the tax software will automatically...

Here’s How a Name Change Affects a Tax Return

March 10, 2019

When someone legally changes their name, there are tax consequences they need to know about, especially at tax time. People change their names for several reasons: Taking their spouse’s last name after a marriage Hyphenating their last name with their spouse’s after getting married Going back to their former name after a divorce Giving an adopted child the last name...

Critical Case Comment – Repeat: No Fee Splitting

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

October 23, 2022

A referral fee by retained special counsel paid to debtor’s attorney violates the prohibition in § 504 in that it constitutes an unauthorized splitting of attorney’s fees. (Williamson) In re Davis, 638 B.R. 198 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. March 31, 2022) Case Summary Four years after Lisa Davis filed her Chapter 13 petition, she was involved in an auto accident resulting...

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Why Junk the Whole System When Minor Remedies Would Suffice?

December 27, 2020

By Shannon Garrett, Esq. (Topeka, KS) As a Debtor’s bankruptcy practitioner, I was encouraged to see Senator Warren’s proposed reform plan. Bankruptcy is one of the few areas where bipartisan support and action are possible, and being a fan of the current structure, I welcome the reform as a chance to make a good system better. Chapter 7 and Chapter...

Absolute Right to Dismiss? Sixth Circuit Says “Yes”

August 8, 2021

By Academy Staff Section 1307(b) provides: On request of the debtor at any time, if the case has not been converted under Section 706, Section 1112, or Section 1208, the court shall dismiss a case under this chapter. This seemingly straightforward provision has generated significant litigation and produced multiple conflicting decisions. Does a Debtor have a right to dismiss a...

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Leaders Must Take Action to Halt Foreclosure Crisis for Minorities

August 23, 2020

NCLC’s Executive Director Rich Dubois and NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson are calling on Congress and federal regulators to take action to prevent an impending foreclosure crisis in communities of color, in an opinion editorial published yesterday in The Hill. The op-ed highlights how the cumulative impact of decades of housing policy discrimination on African American homeownership, coupled with...

Critical Case Comment – Service Counts

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

October 2, 2022

Debtor’s filing application to extend or impose the automatic stay must comply with the service requirements of Rule 7004 as to all creditors or the stay cannot be imposed or extended. (Johnson) In re Hardy, 2022 WL 1196963 (C.D. Cal. April 21, 2022) Case Summary Kimberly Hardy had a long history in consumer bankruptcy. She had filed eight cases, including...

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