Witcher v. Early (In re Witcher)

Summarized by Tiffany DiIorio , U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the U.S. Trustee
13 years 2 months ago

Citation:

Witcher v. Early (In re Witcher), Case No. 11-15883 (11th Cir. Dec. 13, 2012)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

The Eleventh Circuit held that a bankruptcy court may properly consider a debtor's ability to pay his or her debts as part of the totality-of-the-circumstances test set forth in 11 U.S.C. Section 707(b)(3)(B). The court further stressed that its holding was narrow and should not be construed as deciding whether a debtor's ability to pay his or her debts, alone, would be dispositive under the totality-of-the-circumstances test.

Procedural context:

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama affirming the decision of the bankruptcy court finding that it was appropriate to consider a debtor's ability to pay his or her debts as part of the totality-of-the-circumstances test set forth in 11 U.S.C. Section 707(b)(3)(B).

Facts:

Robert Alan Witcher and Jennifer Witcher filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy relief and sought to retain several luxurty items, including a camper, a boat, a trailer, and a tractor, and continued making payments on these items to their secured creditors. The bankruptcy court determined that the debtors' ability to pay, as well as their reluctance to change their lifestyle in order to provide a distribution to creditors, indicated that granting relief under chapter 7 would be an abuse under the totalitytotality-of-the-circumstances test set forth in 11 U.S.C. Section 707(b)(3)(B).

Judge(s):

Chief Judge Dubina Judge Carnes Judge Gilman

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