Background

• Jorden Saldana, an above-median income debtor, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and excluded voluntary contributions to her employer-managed retirement plan from disposable income calculations.
• The Chapter 13 trustee objected, arguing those voluntary retirement contributions should be treated as disposable income and used to pay unsecured creditors.
• The bankruptcy court sustained the trustee's objection, relying on In re Parks, holding that voluntary retirement contributions count as disposable income in Chapter 13.
• Saldana amended her plan, excluding only retirement loan repayments from disposable income, and the bankruptcy court confirmed the plan.
• Saldana appealed, and the district court affirmed the bankruptcy court's decision. On further appeal, the Ninth Circuit reversed, interpreting the Bankruptcy Code as excluding voluntary retirement contributions from disposable income under Chapter 13.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Patterson v. Shumate, 504 U.S. 753 (U.S. 1992) (retirement contributions excluded from bankruptcy estate originally; cited for statutory background)
• Bullard v. Blue Hills Bank, 575 U.S. 497 (U.S. 2015) (explained when bankruptcy orders become final and appealable)
• In re Sisk, 962 F.3d 1133 (9th Cir. 2020) (standard for good faith under Chapter 13)
• Egebjerg v. Anderson, 574 F.3d 1045 (9th Cir. 2009) (addressed the means test in bankruptcy)
• Davis v. Helbling, 960 F.3d 346 (6th Cir. 2020) (collected varying interpretations of § 541(b)(7) and discussed its ambiguity)
• Seafort v. Burden (In re Seafort), 669 F.3d 662 (6th Cir. 2012) (limited exclusion of retirement contributions to prepetition amounts)