Stern v. Marshall: Making Life Harder for Chapter 13 Trustees?

By Brian T. Cumings, Graves, Dougherty, Heron and Moody (Austin, TX)

In June of 2011, the Supreme Court created a minor uproar in the bankruptcy community when it handed down its opinion in Stern v. Marshall.1 In a wide-ranging majority opinion delivered by Chief Justice Roberts, only two things were clear: a lot of money was at stake in the case and Congress had overreached in some way in its statutory grants of authority to bankruptcy courts.

The core holding of Stern was that Article III of the Constitution precluded an . . .

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The “Snapshot” Rule – Part 1: The Circuits Begin to Line Up

March 14, 2021

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...

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Critical Case Comment– Reverse Mortgage May be Modified

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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A reverse mortgage, having fallen due as a result of the death of the borrower, is not protected from modification by the borrower’s heirs by virtue of § 1322(c)(2). (Halfenger) In re Sandoval, 2022 WL 982182 (Bankr. E.D. Wis. March 31, 2022) Case Summary Juan Sandoval filed Chapter 13 and proposed a plan which dealt with his principal asset, a...

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When the Duty to Provide Tax Returns Collides with Confidentiality

Michael B. Joseph

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Bankruptcy Code Section 521(e)(2)(A)(i) and (ii) provides that a debtor must supply tax returns to the trustee in a chapter 7 or 13 case, and to a creditor who timely requests such copy. Must the debtor provide copies that contain personal identifying information such as names, addresses and social security numbers of dependents including minor children? Or a redacted version...

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What Was the Most Unusual Debtor Asset or Case During Your Watch?

The NACTT Emeritus Trustees

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What do a license plate, a house in Gambia, anda drug runner’s house all have in common? This is a fun holiday week read – enjoy!

Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment and Technical Corrections Act

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

June 12, 2022

A new day is coming to high debt borrowers seeking to file Chapter 13 but confounded by the debt limits imposed by 11 U.S.C. § 109(e). Although debt limits have been increasing since the effective date of the Code in 1979, consumer debts have been increasing at a far more rapid rate. Starting in 2009, when the housing crisis first...

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Herb Beskin – A Proclamation

Angela M. Scolforo

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Upon this auspicious occasion, seeing before us this eloquence of attorneys, let us recount the mighty deeds of one Herbert Lee Beskin. WHEREAS, Herbert was born and began his legal career in the last century (or we presume); and WHEREAS, a double Hoo, Herbert graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in 1972, and stayed in Charlottesville to...

Post-Petition Causes of Action, Inheritances and Windfalls Are Property of the Estate and Must Be Reported to the Trustee – Part 1 of 5

July 14, 2019

By John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio, Western Division A. Property Acquired After The Filing Of The Chapter 13 Case: The Different Approaches. 1. Property Acquired Post-Petition vs. Property “Vesting In The Debtor”. Click here for Part 2 The broad issue of what becomes property of the Chapter 13 estate post-petition involves consideration of two...

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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...

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From the Editor

September 20, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Chapter 13 debtor lacked “person aggrieved” standing to appeal objection to trustee’s final report. The bankruptcy court had overruled the debtor’s objection to the trustee’s final report, and debtor’s appeal was dismissed, with the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel finding that debtor lacked “person aggrieved” standing to appeal. Debtor’s objection had not included amount of...

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Don’t Be Dismissive – Rule 41

Cathy Moran

August 6, 2023

I was the third attorney on this lien avoidance matter. Instead of it being “third time’s the charm”, it came close to being “three strikes and you’re out.” All because of FRBP 7041. This was the set up: debtor’s original counsel filed a number of lien avoidance actions, including the one against a landlord with a large default judgment. The...

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