Put off the division of community property in a marital dissolution at your peril. Hesitate and you risk all of the community property being swept up in a bankruptcy by the other spouse. And you’ll have little control where community property assets fall. Community property is all in The threat begins with the bankruptcy law […]
List It Or Lose It: When Actual Knowledge Isn’t Enough
To actually effect abandonment of unadministered assets in a bankruptcy case, the asset in question must appear on Schedule A/B. That’s the hard teaching of Stevens v. Whitmore from the 9th Circuit BAP. A passing reference to an asset in the SOFA isn’t sufficient. Neither was the fact the trustee explicitly knew about the claim […]
Ensure You Understand Insurance In Bankruptcy
Sometimes, issues that you’ve just skimmed over burst forth in bunches, demanding attention. Lately, that issue in my bankruptcy cases has been insurance. Because its treatment varies so, we need to be asking more pointed questions of clients about both insurance policies and the debtor as beneficiary. Unmatured life insurance Starting with exemptions, §522(d)(7) makes […]
6 Steps to Ethical Unbundling of Bankruptcy Representation
No matter how many hoops the client dutifully jumped through, without adequate inquiry and communication, the bankruptcy attorney was slammed for unbundling his services. The representation agreement at issue excluded representation in any adversary proceeding filed, as do most such agreements, I imagine. The client initialed every paragraph of the 19 page representation agreement, and […]
Hearsay Exception: How Do I Get This Into Evidence?
Quick: tell me everything you know about Federal Rule of Evidence 803(17)! If you’re like me, there’s deafening silence. I’ve apparently skated through forty years of bankruptcy practice without really considering how Kelly Blue Book figures get into evidence. If it worked, I just went on. (Hint: it’s FRE 803(17). But a change in California […]
Wrestling With The Means Test
The timeless questions asked by mankind include “why are we here“, “which came first…” and “coffee or tea“. Bankruptcy lawyers wrestle with “which controls, b-22 or Schedules I and J“. My argument is: if Congress wanted a means test, then the means test controls, unless you show special circumstances. But if I minus J controls, […]
Your Help Needed With Consumer Attorney Fee Survey
Can I assume you’d like some authority to back up your next application for fees? The US Consumer Law Attorney Fee Survey Report , published for 20 years by Ron Burdge provides just that authority. It’s free and far ranging. So, do your part by taking the survey online to get current information on fees in multiple […]
