The 8th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel has issued a new opinion that is really causing a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about the exemption status in bankruptcy cases of retirement accounts awarded to debtors during a divorce case.

If a debtor is awarded a portion of their ex-spouse’s retirement account in a divorce proceeding, is that account protected in bankruptcy? Until a few months ago the majority opinion was yes, but that is all changed since the BAP issued the Lerbakken opinion.

In Lerbakken, the debtor was awarded one-half of his wife’s 401(k) retirement account in a divorce proceeding. He subsequently filed Chapter 7 and the bankruptcy trustee claimed his interest in the retirement.  The bankruptcy judge ruled in favor of the trustee citing the United States Supreme Court’s opinion of Clark v Rameker, a case involving inherited IRA accounts.Continue Reading Retirement Accounts & Divorce: Lerbakken Opinion Puts Accounts at Risk

Bomb

The more I think about the disastrous  consequences of two recent 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decisions regarding Judicial Estoppel the more alarmed I become.

This is a time bomb waiting to go off.  The 8th Circuit has ruled that debtors who fail to amend bankruptcy schedules to report claims against third parties that occur