TheFloridaBankruptcyLawBlog

When an IRA owner dies and designates an heir, other than his spouse, as the beneficiary of his IRA the beneficiary acquires an “inherited IRA” from the decedent. Federal bankruptcy exemptions protect IRAs up to approximately $1 million. Some bankruptcy trustees have challenged the exemption of IRAs which the debtor inherited from a parent.

There has been significant bankruptcy litigation over whether or not a debtor loses his Florida  homestead exemption if he uses his home to conduct business. Courts are divided; the law differs depending upon the district where the debtor files bankruptcy.

An Maryland attorney wrote me an email about his representation of a person who received what was determined to be the fraudulent transfer of a piece of real property. His client had spent money maintaining and repairing the property. The attorney wanted to know if his client was entitled to payment for money he spent on property fraudulently transferred to him by a bankruptcy debtor.

The common wisdom is that is nearly impossible to discharge a student loan in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. I recently saw a Florida bankruptcy case where a  bankruptcy judge did order the discharge of a debtor’s student loan.

A married man used exempt money from his retirement funds to pay off a $400,000 mortgage on his homestead. Within three years thereafter, the same man filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Chapter 7 trustee is challenging the man’s homestead exemption because he (the debtor) obtained $400,000 equity within 1215 days of filing bankruptcy. Can the man’s non-filing spouse exert her homestead interest to save the house?