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Introduction to the Means Test and Dismissals or Conversions for Abuse

Learn about the rules governing dismissal of a chapter 7 case for abuse, along with the presumption of abuse under the means test.

Transcript

Section 707(b) of the Bankruptcy Code applies only to individual debtors. Under that provision, the bankruptcy court may dismiss a chapter 7 case if granting bankruptcy relief would be an abuse of chapter 7's provisions. Alternatively, the court may convert the case to chapter 11 or 13, provided the debtor consents and is eligible to be a debtor under chapter 11 or 13.

There are, of course, multiple bases upon which the bankruptcy court can find abuse. But the Bankruptcy Code instructs the...

Lessons

    • 1. Welcome to Bankruptcy
    2. Foundations of Bankruptcy
    3. The Estate and the Automatic Stay
    4. Creditors, Claims, Discharge, and Priority
    5. Chapter 7 Liquidation
    • Chapter 7 Panel Trustee
    • Distribution of Estate Property in Chapter 7
    • Discharge in Chapter 7
    • Personal-Property Collateral in Chapter 7
    • General Grounds to Dismiss a Chapter 7 Case
    • Introduction to the Means Test and Dismissals or Conversions for Abuse
    6. Debt Adjustment in Chapter 13
    • Eligibility to File for Chapter 13
    • The Estate in Chapter 13
    • Introduction to the Chapter 13 Plan of Debt Adjustment
    • Terms Permitted in a Chapter 13 Plan
    • Chapter 13 Confirmation Requirements: Treatment of Secured Claims
    • Chapter 13 Confirmation Requirements: Treatment of Unsecured and Priority Claims
    7. Preferences
    • Introduction to Preferences
    • A Transfer to a Creditor or for a Creditor's Benefit Made for or on Account of an Antecedent Debt
    • A Transfer Enabling a Creditor to Receive More Than It Would in Chapter 7
    • The Net-Benefit Rule
    • Contemporaneous Exchanges for New Value
    • Transfers in the Ordinary Course of Business
    • Subsequent New Value