A bankruptcy judge has refused to block a lawsuit demanding that SunTrust Bank be forced to give up nearly $3.3 million to a lawyer’s widow defrauded by a crooked investment adviser. The lawsuit claims SunTrust turned a blind eye to ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy U.S. Bankruptcy Court

A debtor cannot discharge a circuit court judgment against him for assault because a judgment on that cause of action satisfies the requirements of Bankruptcy Code § 523(a)(6). Background In June 2008, Ms. Hanson filed suit in the Madison County Circuit ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Rebecca B. Connelly U.S. Bankruptcy Court U.S. District Court - Western District

A debtor who failed on four separate occasions to file a feasible plan will not get a fifth opportunity. Instead, the court held the debtor’s repeated failures, which were based upon unreliable and inaccurate financial projections, were unlikely to be ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court U.S. District Court - Western District

The debtor’s agreement, as part of a divorce proceeding, to pay one-half of certain joint debts incurred with her former husband meant those debts were not dischargeable under Bankruptcy Code § 523(a)(15). Background Plaintiff is the former husband of defendant, ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Klinette H. Kindred U.S. Bankruptcy Court U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A debtor who filed multiple petitions – allegedly as part of a scheme to delay, hinder or defraud his bank’s attempts to foreclose on real property – had his case dismissed because, despite prior warning, he failed to adequately demonstrate ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Klinette H. Kindred U.S. Bankruptcy Court U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The trustee who sought legal fees for filing and defending two proofs of claim on behalf of creditors who did not file claims is limited to requesting fees only for the proofs of claim from which the debtor benefitted. In ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Brian F. Kenney U.S. Bankruptcy Court

The court dismissed most of the objections to an ex-husband’s bankruptcy plan that were made by his former spouse, although it did hold the current, higher value of real property should be used, rather than the assessment that was made ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Klinette H. Kindred U.S. Bankruptcy Court U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The “Important Opinions” that appear each week on the front page of Virginia Lawyers Weekly are those chosen by our editors as the most likely to impact law practice or a given subject area of law. Below is a listing, ...

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The Bankruptcy Code is clear that when a Chapter 13 plan is not confirmed, the trustee must return post-petition payments to the debtor. As a result, the child support division could not levy on funds held by the trustee because ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Bankruptcy Judge G. Steven Agee

The creditor’s heirs in a case involving a company declared bankrupt in 1931 persuaded the court that an assignment agreement entitling another person to distributions was never enforced, and should not be enforced now. Background In 1931, Yellow Poplar Lumber ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Black U.S. Bankruptcy Court