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Means Testing: the Failed Bankruptcy Revolution of 2005, 15 American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 223 (2007)

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Means Testing: the Failed Bankruptcy Revolution of 2005, 15 American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 223 (2007) Yeshiva University, Cardozo School of Law LARC @ Cardozo Law Articles Faculty 2007 Means Testing: The aiF led Bankruptcy Revolution of 2005 David Gray Carlson Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/faculty-articles Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation David G. Carlson, Means Testing: The Failed Bankruptcy Revolution of 2005, 15 American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 223 (2007). Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/faculty-articles/242 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty at LARC @ Cardozo Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by an authorized administrator of LARC @ Cardozo Law. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. MEANS TESTING: THE FAILED BANKRUPTCY REVOLUTION OF 2005 DAVID GRAY CARLSON* INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 224 I. DISCLOSURES ..................................................................................................... 228 IL MEANS TESTING PRIOR TO 2005 ....................................................................... 234 A. "Primarily Consumer Debts" ........................................................................ 234 B. Standing ........................................................................................................ 238 C. "Substantial Abuse" ....................................................•...•............................. 239 D. Pro-Debtor Presumption .............................................................................. 248 E. Charitable Contributions ............................................... :.............................. 249 III. MEANS TESTING AND BAPCPA ······································································ 250 A. Standing ......................................................................................... ·............... 251 1. United States Trustees .............................................................................. 251 2. Partial Immunity ......................................................................•................ 253 3. Total Immunity ......................................................................................... 253 4. The Qualifications for Partial and Total Immunity ................................... 256 5. Crime Victim Standing .....................•....................................................... 258 6. Current Monthly Income .......................................................................... 258 a. Non-Debtor Spousal Income ................................................................ 260 b. Child Support ....................................................................................... 262 c. Exclusions ............................................................................................. 262 d. Irregular Income ..•............................................................................... 263 7. Median Family Income ............................................................................. 264 B. The Means Test ............................................................................................. 266 1. The Sixty-Month Test for Gross Income .................................................. 266 2. Expenses ................................................................................................... 268 a. IRS Standards ....................................................................................... 268 i. National Standards ............................................................................ 269 ii. Dependents ....................................................................................... 270 iii. Local Standards .............................................................................. 272 (a) Housing .................................................................... ,.................. 273 (b) Transportation ........................................................................... 274 iv. Other Necessary Expenses .............................................................. 278 v. Health and Disability Insurance ....................................................... 280 vi. Family Violence .............................................................................. 280 vii. The Chronically Ill ......................................................................... 281 viii. Chapter 13 Expenses ..................................................................... 282 ix. Tuition ............................................................................................. 283 x. Secured Debts .................................................................................. 283 * Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. 223 224 AB/ LAW REVIEW [Vol. 15:223 xi. Priority Claims ................................................................................ 288 3. Charitable Contributions ........................................................................... 290 4. Rebuttals ................................................................................................... 291 5. Veterans .................................................................................................... 292 6. Sanctions ................................................................................................... 294 C. Means Testing In Excess of Section 707(b)(2) ............................................. 295 IV. DISPOSABLE INCOME IN CHAPTER 13 .............................................................. 298 A. Gross Income ................................................................................................ 301 B. Below-Median Debtors ................................................................................. 306 C. Above-Median Debtors ................................................................................. 307 1. The Unfairness of It All ............................................................................ 307 2. Who Receives Disposable Income? .......................................................... 310 3. Charitable Contributions ........................................................................... 313 V. CONVERSION BACK TO CHAPTER 7 .................................................................. 314 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 318 INTRODUCTION As with most human practices, American bankruptcy law is rife with myth and misconception. One of them is the idea that honest debtors are entitled to a bankruptcy discharge and a fresh start. 1 This myth was promulgated by Local Loan Co. v. Hunt,2 where, Hesiod-like, Justice Sutherland wrote the following oft-quoted words: [The] purpose of the [Bankruptcy] act has been again and again emphasized by the courts as being of public as well as private interest, in that it gives to the honest but unfortunate debtor who surrenders for distribution the property which he owns at the time of bankruptcy, a new opportunity in life and a clear field for future effort, unhampered by the pressure and discouragement of preexisting debt. 3 Although Local Loan does not actually use the phrase "fresh start, "4 the case is usually cited in connection with the concept.5 Technically, Local Loan involved avoidance of a pre-petition wage assignment as security for a loan. This assignment 1 E.g., Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Mass., 127 S. Ct. 1105, 1107 (2007) ("The principal purpose of the Bankruptcy Code is to grant a 'fresh start' to the 'honest but unfortunate debtor."'). 2 292 U.S. 234 (1934). 3 Id. at 244. 4 It does, however, refer to debtors "starting afresh." Id. at 244 ("One of the primary purposes of the Bankruptcy Act is to 'relieve the honest debtor from the weight of oppressive indebtedness, and permit him to start afresh free from the obligations and responsibilities consequent upon business misfortunes."' (quoting Williams v. U.S. Fidelity & Guar. Co., 236 U.S. 549, 554-55 (1915))). 5 E.g., Cent. Va. Cmty. College v. Katz, 126 S. Ct. 990,996 (2006) (citing Local Loan and noting Bankruptcy Code gives debtor an ultimate discharge and a new start); Grogran v. Garner, 498 U.S. 279, 286-87 (1991) (citing Local Loan and stating central purpose of Bankruptcy Code is for debtors to make~peace with creditors to enjoy new opportunity in life). 2007] THE FAILED BANKRUPTCY REVOLUTION OF 2005 225 was valid under Illinois law, yet Justice Sutherland ruled as a matter of non-statutory bankruptcy policy, that the lien was automatically dissolved by the very fact of a bankruptcy discharge. 6 Discharge of a debt has no such effect on other types of security interests.7 So Local Loan strongly stands for the proposition that the debtor has an inalienable ownership of his post-petition wages following a bankruptcy discharge. The principle of Local Loan was ratified by Congress forty-three years later in the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978.8 The spirit of the fresh start is embodied within section 54l(a), which defines the bankruptcy estate. Preliminarily, section 54l(a)(l) establishes that the bankruptcy estate consists of "all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the commencement of the case .. "9 Without more, it would appear that a worker's "job" is part of the bankruptcy estate, since a job is an executory contract and these routinely go into the
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