Where a post-confirmation motion to reopen has been filed in three unrelated Chapter 13 cases, there is no estate property to be administered if the cases were reopened and converted to cases under Chapter 7, so each motion must be denied.
“In these three unrelated chapter 13 cases, a similar issue has arisen. Several years after the debtors completed all payments under their Chapter 13 plans and received discharges, the Chapter 13 trustee learned of an undisclosed asset in the form of a personal injury claim that she asserts accrued prepetition. The question is whether that undisclosed asset (if determined to be a prepetition asset) can be administered for the benefit of creditors upon reopening and conversion of the case to a Chapter 7. In each of these cases, the confirmation order vested all property of the estate in the debtors upon entry of the discharge. As more fully set forth below, given the confirmation order, all property of the estate, including any undisclosed prepetition asset, belongs to the debtors. There is no cause to reopen or convert the cases because there is no property of the estate for a Chapter 7 trustee to administer, even if the claims were determined to have accrued prepetition. …
“As more fully set forth below, since the confirmation orders vested all property of the estate in the debtors upon entry of the discharge, the personal injury claims vested in the debtors upon entry of the discharge, even if such claims accrued prepetition. Since there remains no property of the estate for a trustee to administer in a Chapter 7, there is no reason to reopen the cases or to convert the cases to Chapter 7. …
“When a debtor completes the payments under a Chapter 13 plan and a discharge is entered, the case is fully administered. In these cases, as provided in the confirmation orders, all property of the estate, including any undisclosed assets, was administered and vested in the debtors upon entry of their discharges. As a result, there is no property of the estate to be administered if the cases were reopened and converted to cases under Chapter 7.”
In re: Gillis Adele F.; In re: Perry, Donald R. Jr., et al.; In re: Richter, Kenneth L. (Lawyers Weekly No. 04-012-24) (11 pages) (Bostwick, J.) (Chapter 13 Case Nos. 11-10086-JEB, 11-12338-JEB and 07-18223-JEB) (Aug. 13, 2024).
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