Law Review: Emerson, Andrew F.- So You Want to Buy a Discharge: Revisiting the Sticky Wicket of Settling Denial of Discharge Proceedings in the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, 92 Am. Bankr. L.J. 111 (2018)

Abstract: The propriety and requisites for the settlement of denial of discharge proceedings, initiated under § 727 of the Bankruptcy Code, has long been a subject of controversy in the federal judiciary. One series of decisions prohibits any settlement that would include the debtor’s payment of settlement funds or giving other value. At the other end of the spectrum, various courts have approved such settlements, even permitting direct payment to the prosecuting creditor under appropriate circumstances. This article examines various judicial positions on such proposed settlements. This article concludes that approval or denial of these proposed settlements is best resolved by bankruptcy judges, on a case-by-case basis, unfettered by strict per se prohibitions that have developed in the case law. Commentary: While the article does discuss how Trustees and other creditors could, if dissatisfied with a proposed settlement between the debtor and the prosecuting creditor, seek to substitute in on the § 727, this article leaves unmentioned that, in the face of particularly egregious problems, the bankruptcy court can refer the matter for criminal prosecution. For a copy of the article , please see: So You Want to Buy a Discharge: Revisiting the Sticky Wicket of Settling Denial of Discharge Proceedings in the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy