In re Deutscher
United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois
419 B.R. 42 (2009)
The Deutschers (plaintiffs), with over $300,000 in secured debt and $60,000 in unsecured debt, filed Chapter 7 shortly after incurring $11,000 in new boat debt and $30,000 in luxury car debt, purchases made partly while Mr. Deutscher claimed to be unemployed, on top of over half their existing secured debt already tied to a yacht bought the prior year; the Chapter 7 trustee moved to dismiss the petition as abusive even though the Deutschers technically passed the statutory means test by retaining enough secured debt to reduce their disposable income calculation.
Whether a chapter 7 debtor's petition can be dismissed as abusive if the debtor files a petition in bad faith or fails the totality-of-the-circumstances test.