From the Editor – Property of Estate and Exemptions • NACTT Academy

From the Editor – Property of Estate and Exemptions

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Turnover to trustee not restricted to property of estate at time motion filed. The Chapter 7 debtor had a checking account at commencement of case, with an account balance, and the Ninth Circuit held that the plain language of § 542(a) permitted turnover against an entity at any time during the pendency of the case, even if that entity no longer had possession, custody or control over the property at the time the motion is filed. When the debtor has or had possession of the property at some point . . .

It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members.

Or Sign In Below:

No Author Biography has been linked to this Article.

From the Editor – Claims

June 21, 2020

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....

Members

From the Editor – Debtor’s Attorney

May 17, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) No attorney fees for Chapter 7 work in converted case. In a case that began as Chapter 7 and converted to Chapter 13, the debtor’s attorney sought fees for work in the Chapter 7 phase under § 330(a)(4)(B) rather than § 330(a)(1). The Court found the better interpretation of § 330(a)(4)(B)’s language “in...

Members

What A Bankruptcy Lawyer Is Thankful For

Cathy Moran

November 19, 2023

On Thanksgiving, I’m mindful of how precious the American approach to insolvency is.

Lawyers are People Too: An Interview with Aki Koyama, Staff Attorney to Chapter 13 Standing Trustee Kathy Dockery

M. Jonathan Hayes

March 27, 2022

(Used with permission,Volume 1, Issue 3:3 6 March, 2022 cdcbaa) Jon: Hi Aki. I can’t believe after knowing you for 30 years now that I don’t know where you were born. Aki: Ha! I was born in Tokyo, Japan although we moved to California when I was about one. We’ve been here ever since. Jon: Why the move? Aki: Well,...

First Principles for First Meetings

October 11, 2020

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) Once again, I sat in a 341 meeting where the trustee’s representative purported to deliver vital information to the assembled debtors. She had a captive audience of anxious listeners. She had ostensible power of life and death over their financial future. They needed to know what she had to say. But as communication,...

Members

What the FICO? Reaffirming Doesn’t Help My Credit Score?

May 23, 2021

By The Honorable John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio (Toledo) Reaffirmation hearings during the pandemic have been difficult, at least for me. The economic risks for debtors are greater. There are uncertainties about the availability of credit, and the availability of suitable vehicles. Prices of used cars have gone up – with stimulus money pushing...

Members

In the Trenches: Secrets to Settlement – Competency in the Courtroom Part 2 of 3

June 16, 2019

By Jan Hamilton, Chapter 13 Trustee (Topeka, KS) Click here for Part 1 of 3 8. Early Preparation for Trial As suggested, the best way to settle a case is to be willing to try that case, which means you must prepare from the get go. That preparation begins a long time before the eve of trial, namely, at the...

Members

Claims Secured by Personal Property

Pamela Simmons-Beasley, Dennis LeVine, Esq., Michael J. Watton, Esq.

June 18, 2023

Chapter 13 in the Bankruptcy Code (1978 as amended) marks the first time that virtually all secured debts can be somewhat altered in a bankruptcy without getting the specific agreement of security holders. Real benefit is provided to the debtors who have personal property with secured loans due. Concepts including the automatic stay preventing enforcement or perfection of a security...

Members

Five More Things Debtors Should Know About the SBRA – Part VIII

February 16, 2020

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction This series has focused on the four bankruptcy-related bills that were enacted during the 116th Congress and signed into law on August 23, 2019. One bill, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA), will be effective February 19, 2020. It appears in its entirety in Appendix B to...

Members

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....

Members