Planning for Attorney Disability or Death

The debtors will miss him. The creditors will miss him. Even more, his colleagues will miss him. Michael Joseph has served as the Chapter 13 Trustee in Delaware since 1987. He is retiring March 31, 2022. He has served with competence and excellence. The debtors will miss him because he treated them with dignity and compassion. The creditors knew they...

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Recordation of divorce judgment created secured claim. In Chapter 13 case, the debtor objected to former spouse’s secured claim, with pre-bankruptcy divorce judgment awarding former marital home to the husband but ordering equalization payments to the wife. No security was mentioned in the judgment, but its recordation created a lien under Wisconsin law....

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction In In re Fulton,1 the Seventh Circuit has restated its position on passive violation of the automatic stay, holding that failure by the City of Chicago to turn over impounded vehicles after the owners' bankruptcy filings violated Bankruptcy Code sections 362 and 542. Fulton – Background and Ruling The...

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction The Supreme Court unanimously held on January 14 that an order denying stay relief was final in Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC.1 Thus, the creditor should have appealed the denial instead of waiting until later in the case to seek again to pursue its pre-bankruptcy litigation against...

Congratulations to all but specifically the two bankruptcy courts with recognized recipients!

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee Mortgage creditor may not withdraw a notice of fees, costs, and charges filed in a case after the supplement to the claim has been challenged without court approval; the allowance of such a notice will not be permitted where a state statute forbids it. Quicken...

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

Recently Upsolve printed an article titled: “Why is Chapter 13 Probably A Bad Idea” by Jonathan Petts, July 27, 2023. In a nutshell the article says an unsuccessful Chapter 13 can leave you in worse financial shape. Further it states that it costs more than Chapter 7 and is less likely to be successful. Additional points by Upsolve are: Chapter...