In the Chapter 13 bankruptcy case of two Texas debtors, the bankruptcy trustee’s request to modify the debtors’ repayment plan was denied.
The details of the bankruptcy case:
The married Chapter 13 bankruptcy debtors agreed to pay unsecured creditors $16,260.00 over the period of 60 months. At about 36 months the debtors had repaid their secured and priority creditors in full and paid their unsecured creditors the $16,260.00 that their Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan required. However, there were excess assets in the bankruptcy estate and the bankruptcy trustee wanted to take those assets and distribute them to the unsecured creditors even though they were already paid as agreed to in the original plan. The debtors objected to the trustee’s plan.
Debtors ask the court to modify their chapter 13 plan to reduce the base amount from $60,000 to $36,181.56, close out the case, reduce the plan’s term from 60 months to 36 months and provide from funds held by the Trustee their attorney with attorney fees in the amount of $400.00. The bankruptcy court ruled that since the Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan did not include language such as the bankruptcy trustee did not have the flexibility to modify the plan. And since the language of the bankruptcy plan limits how much the unsecured creditors can receive, the bankruptcy court denied the trustee’s request and granted the request of the debtors in this case. The Chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment term was reduced to 36 months and the remaining assets were distributed as requested by the debtors.