Minnesota law provides that certain types of assets are exempt from creditor collection. These exemptions impact individual clients in a wide-range of matters ranging from estate planning to judgment executions to bankruptcy filings. The Minnesota legislature recently enacted a new exemption protecting up to $25,000 held in a health savings account. In addition, the Minnesota Commerce Department recently announced that certain exemptions have been increased, including the homestead to $429,000 and the farmstead to $1,072,500.
Many practitioners know that certain types of tax debt are not discharged in an individual debtor’s bankruptcy case. But there are classes of tax debt that may be discharged. For example, income tax debt not excepted under Bankruptcy Code section 523(a)(1) may be discharged. One exception in section 523 is for tax debt for which a tax return was not filed or given. This can often come up in an individual bankruptcy case where the debtor has failed to file tax returns before the bankruptcy case. But what happens to the tax debt if the debtor filed the return late?
Under the Bankruptcy Code, a preference payment is commonly defined as a transfer of property of the debtor within 90 days before the bankruptcy filing to or for the benefit of a creditor on account of an existing debt while the debtor was insolvent, allowing the creditor to receive more than it would otherwise receive in a chapter 7 liquidation.
The choice of a chapter 11 operating trustee can provoke a fight. Follow this guide for a smooth path through the process of displacing an interim chapter 11 trustee or challenging an election.
What can a trademark licensee do when the licensor files for chapter 11 protection? The answer, at least for now, depends on where the debtor’s chapter 11 case is venued.
In a February 2018 ruling, the United States Supreme Court narrowed one of the safe harbors for fraudulent transfer and other avoidance actions. Merit Management Group, LP v. FTI Consulting Group, Inc., 138 S. Ct.
In a normal chapter 11 bankruptcy case, the automatic stay and the provisions of 11 U.S.C. § 365 provide a trustee or debtor in possession with substantial tools and power concerning executory contracts and unexpired leases. A trustee or debtor in possession may override certain rights of the counterparties to those agreements, such as invalidating ipso facto clauses that purport to give the counterparty the right to terminate the contract upon the filing of a bankruptcy case.
The new receivership and assignment for benefit of creditors statutes took effect in 2012. See Minn. Stat. §§ 576 and 577. The statutes codified existing common law and best practices, and provided a comprehensive reference point for practitioners and judges. See e.g. Minn. Stat. § 576.22(d). It was anticipated that the receivership and ABC law would become more accessible and usable. While concrete statistics are not available, receiverships and ABCs appear to be used with greater frequency.
In one of the most important bankruptcy court decisions of all time, Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co., the United States Supreme Court held that the 1979 Bankruptcy Code was unconstitutional because it lodged too much judicial power in bankruptcy judges who were not given “Article III” status, which grants lifetime tenure and salary protection and helps assure judicial independence.
On March 22, 2017, the Supreme Court decided Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp., holding that a bankruptcy court may not approve a structured dismissal of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case if the order does not comply with the priority rules of the Bankruptcy Code. 580 U.S. __ (2017).