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In addressing Michigan county’s car-seizure and forfeiture practices, Sixth Circuit sets a clear benchmark for debtors.

Looking beyond the label assigned by the Affordable Care Act, three circuits have now held that failure to pay the ‘individual mandate’ for purchasing health insurance gave rise to a tax entitled to priority in bankruptcy.

Two judges on the Sixth Circuit cast doubt on the validity of the doctrine of equitable mootness, even in chapter 11 reorganizations.

Although not held in an IRA, a refund by the IRS of a withdrawal penalty was exempt because state law permits tracing proceeds of exemptions, Judge Opperman says.

A judge sitting in a proper venue may transfer venue to a district that was improper originally.

An election for having a tax refund applied to the following year’s taxes can result in the loss of discharge.

Sixth Circuit judges wrote 17 pages of dicta to muse on whether the ‘person aggrieved’ test for appellate standing died with the adoption of the Bankruptcy Code but remains good law under the ‘zone-of-interests’ test.

Bound by Dow Corning, which permitted nondebtor releases, the Sixth Circuit had to explain why the same releases are not permissible in equity receiverships.

If tax foreclosures violate the Takings Clause, it stands to reason that they are also fraudulent transfers.

Waiting four years to raise discharge as a defense does not invoke equitable estoppel or laches.