No Surcharge Exempt Property

On March 4, 2014 the US Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Law v. Siegal, 134 S.Ct. 118 (2014).  The Court ruled that the Bankruptcy Court exceeded its authority when it ordered that the debtor's homestead be "surcharged" to pay the chapter 7 trustee's fees of $75,000.00.

The Court explained that the filing for bankruptcy under chapter 7 creates a bankruptcy "estate" generally consisting of all of the debtor's property. The Court further explained that "[t]he estate is placed under the control of a trustee, who is responsible for managing liquidation of the estate's assets and distribution of the proceeds." The Court noted that the Bankruptcy Code allows a debtor to exempt certain assets from the bankruptcy estate and that these exempt assets are generally not liable for any of the expenses in administering the bankruptcy estate.(305) 891-4055 - Jordan E. Bublick is a Miami Bankruptcy Lawyer with over 25 years of experience in filing Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 Bankrkuptcy Cases and Mortgage Modifications