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NACBA Files Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Disposable Income Case

Posted: December 28, 2009.

NACBA has filed an amicus brief in Hamilton v. Lanning, where the Supreme Court will decide whether an above median income chapter 13 debtor's projected disposable income can be something other than the current monthly income minus the expenses permitted by section 1325(b)(3).  NACBA's brief argues that the court must follow the plain language of the statute and that the debtor could have avoided having two large severance payments affect her current monthly income in a variety of ways, including seeking an alternate current monthly income calculation period under section 101(10A)(A)(ii), deferring the filing of her bankruptcy petition, or arguing that her severance payments were not derived during the six months prior to the petition. Therefore there was no reason for the lower courts to depart from the statutory language by adopting a "forward looking approach" that disregarded the debtor's current monthly income. NACBA's brief also argues, in the alternative, that if the Court does determine that it can look at the debtor's current circumstances, it should make adjustments only in those items that have changed, and not jettison the formula for determining current monthly income and the exclusion of certain types of income such as benefits under the Social Security Act. Finally, the brief argues that, because the case before the court does not involve any disputes about the debtor's expenses, the Court should not rule on how expenses should be calculated.
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