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Repose Or Not? Informal Objections To Claims Of Exemptions After Taylor V. Freeland, Kenneth D. Ferguson

Faculty Works

In Taylor v. Freeland & Kronz, over the trustee's untimely objection, the Supreme Court permitted the bankruptcy debtor to exempt $110,000 that was ineligible under substantive exemption law. The Court rejected the view that unless the debtor had a good faith claim to the exemption or a statutory basis for the exemption, even an untimely objection to the debtor's claim of exemption could terminate the debtor's right to the exemption. Disturbed by the prospects of debtors receiving unjustified windfalls, several courts have developed "informal objection" doctrines to circumvent the "strict constructionist" doctrine of Taylor. However, Taylor's potential for encouraging debtors …