In the first court of appeals ruling on the issue, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that chapter 13 trustees were not entitled to retain trustee fees in cases that were not confirmed. Goodman v. Doll (In re Doll), 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 1073 (10th Cir., 18 January 2023). The case involved the usual…
In a case that can make a difference in a number of chapter 13 cases, Judge Mark in the Southern District of Florida ruled that when an amended means test is filed in chapter 13, the standard expenses allowed on the means test should be those in effect on the date the amendment is filed,…
In a detailed opinion from Judge Larson in the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas the court found that in determining household size for purposes of a chapter 13 case, the appropriate test is the economic unit approach. In re Poole, 2022 Bankr. LEXIS 2776, 2022 WL 5224087, Case No 21-32224 (Bankr. N.D….
An issue that arises occasionally in chapter 13 practice occurs when a debtor filed under chapter 13, but then changes their mind and wants out of bankruptcy, despite a request from another party to convert the case to chapter 7. The great majority of cases appear to support the debtor’s absolute right to dismiss the…
There is a very short 14 day period to appeal final orders in bankruptcy. A question can often arise whether an order is final or not. This was the situation in A&S Entm’t LLC v. Florida, case no. 22-cv-20919-BLOOM, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100789 (S.D. Fla., 6 June 2022). Here the chapter 11 debtor objected…
In a case that the US Trustee’s office alleged expenses were overstated on schedule J, and that schedule I should have included a draw from his business for cancer treatment as a special circumstance rather than including in monthly income, the court sided with the Debtor in denying the motion to dismiss under 11 U.S.C….
Judge Williamson recently denied summary judgment ruling that damages from an intentional violation of a noncompete agreement could still be discharged in a chapter 7 bankruptcy. In Edwards Moving & Rigging, Inc. v. Jenkins (In re Jenkins), 2022 Bankr. LEXIS 1047, Case No 8:21-bk-04085; adv. 8:21-ap-00316-MGW (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 14 April 2022) the district court…
In Chowdary v. Ozcelebi (In re Ozcelebi), 2021 Bankr. LEXIS 3541, Case no 10-70295, Adv. no 21-7001 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. 29 December 2021) the Court ruled on a motion to dismiss a dischargeability complaint for violations of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), 9(b), and 10(b). The complaint asserted that the debt to plaintiff should be excepted…
In a case touching on a number of legal issues, Judge Grossman granted in part a motion to dismiss a fraudulent conveyance action, but with leave to amend, in In re Bal Harbour Quarzo, LLC, 2021 Bankr. LEXIS 3298, Case No 18-11793-SMG, Adv No 20-01079-SMG (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 3 Dec 2021). The plaintiff in the adversary…
The trustee in In re Patel, 2021 Bankr. LEXIS 2897, Case No 6:18-bk-00036-KSJ (Bankr. M.D. Fl. 20 October 2021) had initially abandoned the property after discussing the residence situation at the 341 meeting, but then sought to withdraw the abandonment three years later. While the court noted that the trustee failed to show fraud or newly…
