August 08, 2019

Ninth Circuit BAP Squarely Upholds ‘Chapter 20’: No Lien and No Claim Survive

BAP reversed the bankruptcy court’s ruling that personal liability on a discharged debt was resurrected in ‘chapter 20.

9th Circuit

August 07, 2019

A Judgment Lien on Entireties Property Isn’t Avoidable in Illinois, Seventh Circuit Says

A judicial lien impairing a homestead exemption is avoidable in some states under Section 522(f), but not in others.

7th Circuit, Illinois

August 02, 2019

Fifth Circuit Makes Student Loans Even More Difficult to Discharge

Fifth Circuit now says that student loans must ‘impose intolerable difficulties’ to be dischargeable.

5th Circuit

July 29, 2019

A ‘Plausible’ Claim for a Discharge Violation Is No Longer Sufficient after Taggart

An Alabama case shows how Taggart heightened the pleading standards for a complaint alleging a violation of the discharge injunction.

11th Circuit, Alabama, Alabama Middle District

July 22, 2019

In the More Lenient Eighth Circuit, Debtors Knock Off $130,000 in Student Loans

Judge Collins discharges all but $23,900 among nine student loans totaling $154,000.

8th Circuit, Iowa, Iowa Northern District

July 18, 2019

How to Draft a Judgment to Be Nondischargeable in Bankruptcy

To be nondischargeable, a stipulated judgment must lay out facts showing the debt was incurred by false representation or actual fraud.

9th Circuit, California, California Southern District

July 11, 2019

Michigan Court Allows Curing a Chapter 13 Payment Default After Five Years

Some lower courts don’t allow chapter 13 plan payments after five years, but two circuits do.

6th Circuit, Michigan, Michigan Eastern District

July 08, 2019

Different Rules Govern When Claims Accrue By or Against an Estate

Like physics, bankruptcy searches for a unified theory to explain claims by and against the estate.

1st Circuit, Massachusetts

July 02, 2019

Overpaying a DSO Doesn’t Result in a Nondischargeable Debt, Seventh Circuit Holds

On an issue dividing the courts, the Seventh Circuit rules that an obligation to repay a domestic support obligation is a dischargeable debt, not a nondischargeable DSO.

7th Circuit

July 01, 2019

State and Federal IRA Exemptions Aren’t Congruent, Eleventh Circuit Explains

Circuit Judge Grant explains why an IRA might be exempt under federal law but not exempt under the Florida exemption statute.

11th Circuit