Consumer Bankruptcy

Trustee Admonished for Filing Suit Reflecting a ‘Disturbing Lack of Judgment’

Providing an adult child with room and board in the family home is not a fraudulent transfer.

Supreme Court: The Bankruptcy Code Waived Tribes’ Sovereign Immunity

The Supreme Court resolved a split of circuits in an opinion that could give support to the notion that arbitration agreements are not enforceable in bankruptcy.

Two Circuits Now Hold: ‘13’ Trustees Aren’t Paid if Cases Dismiss Before Confirmation

The Ninth and Tenth Circuit disallow fees to chapter 13 trustee if the case is dismissed before confirmation. The identical issue is sub judice in the Second Circuit.

Accumulated, Identifiable Wages Were Held Exempt, Regardless of the Total Amount

Colorado allows the ‘stacking’ of exemptions, given the mandate to interpret exemptions liberally in favor of debtors.

Student Loans

State Exemption for Life Insurance Policies Continues to Be Under Attack in Texas

Defeated three times, a chapter 7 trustee is appealing to the Fifth Circuit to end the exemption for whole-life policies in Texas.

The Refund of an Early Withdrawal Penalty from an IRA Was Held Exempt

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.

Bartenwerfer Isn’t at Odds with Husky, According to Bankruptcy Judge Margaret Mann

A transferor’s fraudulent intent isn’t imputed to the transferee to make the transferee’s debt nondischargeable for ‘actual fraud.’