Bankruptcy Mastery

Contrary evidence can trump the pre printed form. I saw it in a case I uncovered in updating the Complete Guide to Means Testing for the NACBA Fall Workshop. Swartzentruber ( 2009 WL 28730003 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio 2009)) dealt with means testing and the classification of debts as consumer or non consumer. The debtors there bought a second residence, this one in Florida, and checked the box … [Continue reading...]

Cases keep getting referred to my office when the clients are over the debt limits for Chapter 13. (Debt limits are less of a barrier since the debt limit moved to $2.75 M in 2022). The assumption seems to be that if the debt is that large, a Chapter 11 is required.  It ain't necessarily so. (Care to hum a few bars?). Goals come first Client goals are the first issue when choosing … [Continue reading...]

Like waltz tempo, there's an appeal in threes: Larry, Moe, and Curly Faith, hope, and charity Tinkers, Evers, and Chance In bankruptcy, the trio is unliquidated, contingent, and disputed. They're the prescribed adjectives for describing claims on the schedules.   We all love adjectives, don't we? Contingent The definition of contingent,  in our context,  focuses … [Continue reading...]

Their unconfirmed Chapter 13 case was dismissed and the unrepresented debtors sitting before the judge didn’t understand. “Why did our payments keep going up?”  they asked.  "We can't pay that much". The judge noted that their current plan called for a pot of $73,000 over the life of the plan. The trustee had the answer:  because the means test calculation that your former attorney filed … [Continue reading...]

OK, it's summer.  Our minds wander. We wish we were at the beach. So, fritter away some more time. How about picking out your firm's theme song? If My Practice Had a Theme Song Clients, inattentive and ungrateful, have plagued my practice lately. Purely for internal consumption, our staff theme song would be the Gilbert and Sullivan treasure "I've Got A Little List". For … [Continue reading...]

When faced with a disputed lien strip, don't discount the possibility of compromise. I wrote last time about the seeming impossibility of compromising a §707(b)(3) action.  Next to that, lien strips are easy. Yet I see attorneys all around me folding the moment a secured creditor contests a motion to value.  What opportunities squandered. Having just come off a day long trial where good … [Continue reading...]

What's a Chapter 13 pot plan, you ask. Not one drafted while under the influence, for sure. A "pot plan" is the contrast to a "percentage plan". They are alternative ways to summarize the measure of what the debtor in a Chapter 13 plan proposes to pay into the plan. A percentage plan reads something like this:  allowed unsecured claims shall receive 20% of their claim. The allowed … [Continue reading...]