Denver, CO
Probate Lawyer at Denver, CO
Practice Areas: Probate
OUTCOME: Settled
Client had an adversary case filed against him with a prior default judgment with a basis in fraud. The creditor wanted over $200,000. We settled the case for $80,000 with a management payment plan f ... or the client.
OUTCOME: Objection Denied
Overview: In two separate cases involving above-median-income debtors, Chapter 13 trustee objected to confirmation of plans that proposed to pay 100% of all unsecured claims over a five-year commitment ... period, asserting that debtors did not propose the plans in good faith because, based on their reported disposable income, they could have paid all such claims in full in a substantially shorter period of time than that proposed. Holdings: The Bankruptcy Court, Sidney B. Brooks, J., held that: 1 in determining Chapter 13 debtors' good faith, the court would apply the “more narrow” test first articulated in the Eighth Circuit's Zellner decision; 2 the amount of debtors' repayment, standing alone, is an insufficient basis for finding a lack of good faith under either the Flygare-factor analysis or a narrow analysis; and 3 debtors proposed their plans in good faith even though they proposed to pay in five years what they could easily have paid in less than three years.