A team of bankruptcy lawyers recently came together from across the country to help tweak the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and protect an important stream of benefits for millions of veterans, Law360 reported. Since 2005, hundreds of thousands of disabled former service members seeking bankruptcy relief have had to make a distressing choice: put their disability payments toward a bankruptcy settlement, or keep what might be their sole source of income and avoid seeking the financial help they need. Signed on Aug. 23, the Haven Act, short for Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need, fixed that loophole and ensured that veterans’ disability benefits could not be taken away by creditors as disposable income. The bill’s signing followed a year of advocacy on the part of members of ABI's Veterans' Affairs Task Force. A "tiger team" comprised of Kristina Stanger of Nyemaster Goode in Iowa, Jay Bender of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Alabama, Rachel Albanese of DLA Piper in New York and John H. Thompson of McGuireWoods LLP in Washington, D.C., worked the halls of Congress to advocate for the HAVEN Act.
