Posted by NCBRC - September 20th, 2016
A debtor may not deduct “ownership costs” under the IRS National and Local Standards for a non-purchase-money security interest in his car. Feagan v. Townson (In re Feagan), No. 16-108 (N.D. Ga. Sept. 6, 2016).
When he filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy, Brian Keith Feagan, an above-median debtor, deducted “ownership costs” for his vehicle based on payments he made on a post-purchase loan secured by the vehicle. Mr. Feagan paid $51.43 per month on a “title pawn” secured by his vehicle which he deducted on the Means Test as “payments on a secured debt” under section 707(b(2)(A)(iii). He also deducted $517.00 from his income as a vehicle ownership expense under the IRS Local Standards based on that loan. His proposed plan did not pay unsecured creditors in full. In order to avoid duplicative deductions, the bankruptcy court required Mr. Feagan to reduce his ownership costs deduction by the amount of his average monthly payment on the secured debt for a total reduction of his projected disposable income by $465.57. The bankruptcy court then confirmed the plan over the trustee’s objection. Read More
Posted by NCBRC - February 18th, 2016
The BAP for the Ninth Circuit found that Adoption Assistance payments are “benefits received under the Social Security Act” and were properly excluded from the debtor’s calculation of current monthly income. Adinolfi v. Meyer (In re Adinolfi), 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 173, No. 15-1091 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. Jan. 19, 2016). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - November 3rd, 2015
May a bankruptcy debtor with no mortgage payments nonetheless take the deduction for “Local Standards: Housing and Utilities; mortgage/rent expense” when calculating her disposable income on the Means Test? The Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of Illinois said, “yes.” In re Currie, No. 14-71331 (Sept. 17, 2015). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - August 20th, 2015
Gliding over the crucial question of whether sale of an asset results in income, a Florida bankruptcy court ordered the debtors, Mr. and Mrs. McMillan, to distribute a portion of their sale proceeds to their creditors as disposable income. In re McMillan, No. 11-5348 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. July 2, 2015). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - July 27th, 2015
Contributions to an employee retirement plan are to be excluded from the calculation of current monthly income rather than deducted from disposable income in the Means Test. In re Vu, No. 15-41405 (Bankr. W.D. Wash. June 16, 2015). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - April 27th, 2015
The Seventh Circuit rejected the trustee’s argument to limit the debtor’s child support exclusion to those expenses that are not otherwise deductible under section 1325. In re Brooks, No. 14-2856 (7th Cir. Apr. 23, 2015). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - July 31st, 2014
The debtor properly excluded $400.00/month in child support payments from her calculation of disposable income despite deducting child care expenses elsewhere on the means test. Clark v. Brooks (In re Brooks), No. 14-1031 (C.D. Ill. July 21, 2014). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - April 28th, 2014
An above-median debtor may not take the older vehicle expense deduction of $200.00 when calculating his projected disposable income. In re Luedtke, No. 13-1313 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. April 9, 2014). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - March 29th, 2014
Adding to a growing trend among the circuits courts, the Fourth Circuit found that above-median debtors with negative disposable income must commit to a 60 month plan under section 1325(b)(1). Pliler v. Stearns (In re Pliler), No. 13-1445 (4th Cir. March 28, 2014), on direct appeal from, In re Pliler, 487 B.R. 682 (Bankr. E.D. N.C. Feb. 21, 2013). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - March 20th, 2014
The expense of the debtor/father’s involvement in scout camp was found not deductible as a necessary expense for the support of the debtors’ dependents. In re Knorr, No. 12-3704, 2013 WL 5550209 (Bankr. M.D. Pa. 2013). Read More
