Because a court is in the best position to interpret its own orders, the court determined, over creditors' objections, that the trustee was distributing the proceeds of the sale of the debtors' assets in accordance with the parties' stipulation.
In pre-petition divorce proceedings, the husband was ordered to pay his former spouse's attorney fees. Such fees are in the nature of support under 11 U.S.C. section 523(a)(5) and are not dischargeable in the husband's Chapter 7 bankruptcy case
An unsecured junior lien on debtor's residential real estate may be avoided after the debtor completes Chapter 13 plan payments. The bankruptcy court's Sanders decision, interpreting Nobelman, permits wholly unsecured liens to be stripped off.
When the value of real estate is in dispute, the appraisal testimony submitted by each side should aid the court in fact-finding. Challenges to the opposing appraisal should focus on methodology and credibility, not personal attacks on the appraiser
The bank's property filed financing statements prefected its security interest in all of the debtors' livestock, including offspring of leased sows, and the perfected security interest was superior to American Leasing's interest in the animals.
The court was required to act on the involuntary Chapter 7 petition filed against the debtor, so the debtor's subsequent filing of a Chapter 11 petition, before the court entered an order in the Chapter 7, was insufficient to convert the case to Chapter 1
The debtors' Chapter 13 plan may not discriminate among unsecured creditors by giving preferential treatment to an unsecured claim resulting from a bad check unless the debtors can show they will face criminal prosecution if the debt isn't paid in full
The modified hourly rate charged by counsel to the creditors' committee was reasonable and his work benefitted the estate. However, time spent marking documents should be included in overhead and should not be charged as a professional service.
The appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee under § 1104(a)(2) was in the best interests of the debtor's limited partners, as it would permit them access to the debtor's books and records and allow them to negotiate with creditors to save their investment.
