A Survey of Key Appellate Decisions on Projected Disposable Income

When a debtor fails to disclose a post-petition asset as required by Local Rule and the terms of her plan, the trustee may seek a modification of the plan notwithstanding the expiration of the applicable commitment period; the best interest of creditors test applies only at commencement of the case and not to a plan modification; a trustee’s motion to...

In re Frank, 638 B.R. 463 (Bankr. D. Colo. 2022) A Chapter 13 trustee’s request to dismiss a Chapter 13 case upon discovery of an undisclosed asset held by the debtor cannot be granted after the debtor completes payments under the plan. (Brown) Case Summary John and Jessica Frank filed a Chapter 13 petition on April 8, 2018. Prior to...

By Michael J. McCormick, Esq., McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC (Roswell, GA) Escrow 101 – Part 1 Escrow 101 – Part 3 Escrow 102 – Part 1 Escrow 102 – Part 2

So, what happens to post-petition appreciation of assets during a Chapter 13? Does the Debtor get to keep the money? Or does the Chapter 13 Trustee get it for the benefit of creditors? That was the question for the Court in In re Klein, 2022 WL 3902822 (Bankr. D. Colo. 2022). The question in Klein is a bit different than...

By John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio, Western Division (Toledo, OH) Click here for Part 1 of 6 Click here for Part 2 of 6 Click here for Part 3 of 6

On June 6, the Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion in Siegel v. Fitzgerald1 held that the increase in U.S. Trustee fees in Chapter 11 cases violated the uniformity requirement of the Constitution’s Bankruptcy Clause,2 because the fee increase in 2017 only applied to in the U.S. Trustee districts and didn’t apply to the Bankruptcy Administrator districts in Alabama and North Carolina....

Dear Readers: We are all working at what feels like the speed of light these days. (And if we’re not, then we’re upset that work is too slow. Yes, we feel like Goldilocks—work’s either too busy or not busy enough.) But the wonderful Regina has asked me a question that often relates to someone hitting “send” too soon: “When opposing...

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Exemptions are determined at the time the debtor files for bankruptcy. … This maxim is called the "snapshot" rule because the debtor's financial situation is frozen in time, as if someone had taken a snapshot of it.1 Recent Caselaw The First and Ninth Circuits On March 1, the Ninth Circuit...