Northern District Cases

Who Owns The Money In Joint Bank Accounts?

08/03/16

bank accountFunds in joint bank accounts can generally be accessed by all account-holders — each of them can withdraw all of the money in the account regardless of who actually deposited the funds in the account.  This is often the reason for having a joint account.  This can create a huge problem for the account holders when one of them i

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Chapter 13 Debt Limits Apply Equally To Individual and Joint Cases, Says Judge Sacca

12/29/15

In In re Pete, Ch. 13 Case No. 15-63725-JRS, 2015 WL 8540438 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Dec.

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Debtors Cannot Claim Homestead Exemption In Carve-out Funds Recovered By Trustee.

07/16/15

underwaterhouse In a July 2015 case the Chapter 7 Trustee sold a house that was underwater with three liens, and received a carve-out from the lender that held the second and third liens.  The Debtors did not object to the sale, but to the Trustee’s Final Report because it did not allow for payment of their homestead exemptions from

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Judge Diehl: Undisbursed Funds Paid Into Court For Garnishment Are Property Of The Estate

03/28/14

In In re Cochran, Ch. 7 Case No. 13-43242, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 1178 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Feb. 10, 2014), the issue in the motion to avoid lien was whether funds paid into court pursuant to a Summons of Garnishment are property of the Bankruptcy estate after a case is filed.  Judge Mary Grace Diehl held as follows:

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Judge Diehl: Undisbursed Funds Paid Into Court For Garnishment Are Property Of The Estate

03/28/14

In In re Cochran, Ch. 7 Case No. 13-43242, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 1178 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Feb. 10, 2014), the issue in the motion to avoid lien was whether funds paid into court pursuant to a Summons of Garnishment are property of the Bankruptcy estate after a case is filed.  Judge Mary Grace Diehl held as follows:

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N.D. Ga – Trustee Cannot Use Reverse Piercing of Veil To Recover Alleged Preferential Transfer

03/02/14

In Howell v. U.S. Foods, Inc., Ch. 7 Case No. 11-13160, Adv. Proc. No. 13-1054, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 681 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Feb. 5, 2014) (click here for .pdf of Order), the individual debtor owned and managed a restaurant incorporated as Bilbo’s Bar-B-Que, Inc.  However, the Trustee alleged that the Debtor operated the business as a sole proprietorship known as “Bilbo’s BBQ.”    During the 90 day preference period, payments were made to U.S.

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N.D. Ga – Trustee Cannot Use Reverse Piercing of Veil To Recover Alleged Preferential Transfer

03/02/14

In Howell v. U.S. Foods, Inc., Ch. 7 Case No. 11-13160, Adv. Proc. No. 13-1054, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 681 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Feb. 5, 2014) (click here for .pdf of Order), the individual debtor owned and managed a restaurant incorporated as Bilbo’s Bar-B-Que, Inc.  However, the Trustee alleged that the Debtor operated the business as a sole proprietorship known as “Bilbo’s BBQ.”    During the 90 day preference period, payments were made to U.S.

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ND Ga – Equitable Tolling Does Not Apply To One Year Limitation For Revocation Of Discharge

09/29/13

Last week I was at a final hearing on fee applications on behalf of a Chapter 7 Trustee, in a case in which the debtor had failed to disclose a pre-petition personal injury case  pending in another state.  The defendants in that case ultimately founds out about the Bankruptcy case about a year after it was closed and the debtor received her discharge.  They contacted the Trustee and the case was reopened more than a year after debtor’s discharge to administer the asset (the proceeds of the personal injury case settled by the Trustee).  The Judge questioned why we had not pursued revoc

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