In a highly anticipated decision issued last Thursday (on December 19, 2019), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held in In re Millennium Lab Holdings II, LLC that a bankruptcy court may constitutionally confirm a chapter 11 plan of reorganization that contains nonconsensual third-party releases. The court considered whether, pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Stern v. Marshall, 564 U.S. 462 (2011), Article III of the United States Constitution prohibits a bankruptcy court from granting such releases.

From 1 January 2011 the Insolvency Service has put the following changes into effect:

The Official Receiver (OR), as trustee of the bankruptcy estate, will no longer dispose of a bankrupt’s interest in a family home until two years and three months after the bankruptcy order is made, except if an offer is received which is in the creditors’ interests to accept.

At two years and three months a review will begin. In cases where the bankrupt’s interest in the property is valued at less than £1,000, steps will be taken to revest the property interest in the bankrupt.