10-38561 In re Willems

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Bankruptcy
Retroactivity

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Ransom v. FIA Card Services, 2011 U.S. LEXIS 608 (Jan. 11, 2011), applies retroactively to unconfirmed Chapter 13 plans filed prior to the decision.  “Ransom announces the Supreme Court’s construction of the ownership expense deduction under the Bankruptcy Code. 2011 U.S. LEXIS 608. This Court, therefore, is duty-bound to apply the rule stated in Ransom to this case and all cases in which the plan has not yet been confirmed. See Rivers v. Roadway Express, 511 U.S. 298 (1994). The Supreme Court itself provided clear guidance on retroactive application in Rivers, when the Court admonished: It is this Court’s responsibility to say what a statute means, and once the Court has spoken, it is the duty of other courts to respect that understanding of the governing rule of law. A judicial construction of a statute is an authoritative statement of what the statute meant before as well as after the decision of the case giving rise to that construction. Id. at 312-13 (emphasis supplied).”

10-38561 In re Willems

E.D.Wis., Kelley, Bankr. J.