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Tampa Attorney Launching Database to Help Veterans in Financial Distress

Working beside the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Task Force on Veterans and Servicemembers Affairs, the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar is creating a pilot-program to link veterans in need of insolvency legal representation to lawyers who can help address their financial issues in Florida. "We just want to make sure that the resources are available and whatever needs are out there getting that," said Tampa attorney Steve Berman. Before an official launch, they need more lawyers to sign up as volunteers.

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"Tiger Team" of ABI's Task Force on Veterans and Servicemembers Affairs Receives Prestigious ABI Service Award

The American Bankruptcy Institute presented members of the “Tiger Team” of ABI’s Task Force on Veterans and Servicemembers Affairs with its highest membership award, the ABI Annual Service Award, at the 2022 Annual Spring Meeting on April 29, 2022. Borrowing from military terminology meaning a specialized, cross-functional team brought together to solve a specific problem or critical issue, members of the Task Force’s Tiger Team worked to pass the “Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need (HAVEN) Act of 2019.”

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HAVEN Act May Be Employed to Reduce Payments Under a Confirmed Chapter 13 Plan

In August, Congress adopted the so-called HAVEN Act, which allows military veterans to exclude disability benefits from the calculation of “current monthly income.” In practical terms, the new law means that veterans will no longer be compelled to pay a portion of their disability benefits to creditors under chapter 13 plans. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Phillip J. Shefferly of Detroit decided on March 10 that the HAVEN Act allows veterans to modify confirmed chapter 13 plans by reducing payments to creditors.

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Protecting Disabled Veterans in Need of Financial Assistance: Applying the HAVEN Act to Cases Filed Before Its Enactment

While no doubt can exist that the HAVEN Act applies to bankruptcy cases initiated after it became law, questions have arisen concerning whether the HAVEN Act should apply to bankruptcy cases that were filed before enactment, according to an article in the December 2019 ABI Journal.

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HAVEN Act’s Amendment to CMI: Broadly Protecting Military Service-Related Disability and Death Benefits in Bankruptcy

An article in the November 2019 ABI Journal  looks at how the HAVEN Act amended § 101(10A) of the Bankruptcy Code — defining “current monthly income” (CMI) — by entirely striking and replacing subparagraph (B). The new subparagraph (B) contains the prior’s text, expressing what CMI “includes” and “excludes,” and divides that text into clauses and subclauses.

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Not Fake News: Congress Enacts New, Sensible Bankruptcy Reform

President Donald Trump signed into law several bankruptcy law changes on Aug. 23, 2019: the Family Farmer Relief Act (Pub. L. 116-51), the Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need (HAVEN) Act (Pub. L. 116-52) and the Small Business Reorganization Act (Pub. L. 116-54). Each law is bipartisan and bicameral, a rare event on Capitol Hill in 2019. Collectively, the legislative package represents the most significant amendment to bankruptcy law since 2005.

Read the full October 2019 ABI Journal article.

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HAVEN ACT Provides Military Veterans With Increased Income Protections In Bankruptcy

A new federal law— the Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need Act of 2019 or the HAVEN Act— aims to address the latter hardship, providing disabled military veterans with greater protections in bankruptcy proceedings, according to a commentary in the National Law Review.

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President Signs HAVEN Act to Assist Veterans in Bankruptcy Matters

President Donald Trump on Aug. 23, 2019, signed the Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need Act of 2019 (HAVEN Act) into law. The HAVEN Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Greg Steube (R-Fla.) to exclude disability benefits paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Defense from the calculation of an individual debtor's disposable income used for bankruptcy means testing, according to a commentary on JDSupra.com.

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President Signs the Honoring American Veterans In Extreme Need (HAVEN) Act of 2019 Into Law

President Donald J. Trump today signed the “Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need Act of 2019” (HAVEN Act; H.R. 2938) into law, according to an ABI press release. The bipartisan legislation, which ABI testified in support of in June, passed the House in late July and the Senate on August 1.

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Senate Passes Small Business Reorganization Act, HAVEN Act and Family Farmer Reorganization Act

The U.S. Senate today passed the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (H.R. 3311), HAVEN Act (H.R. 2938) and Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019 (H.R. 2336) by a voice vote, according to an ABI press release. ABI testified in support of the three bills.

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Op-Ed: Why Does the Bankruptcy Code Discriminate Against Disabled Veterans?

When a person files for bankruptcy, it’s a sad day. Although the bankruptcy code was enacted to give a “fresh start to the honest but unfortunate debtor” and a single point of contact for creditors (and to keep our economy going), admitting that your debts are out of control is difficult. So why would Congress make it harder for disabled veterans who need bankruptcy protection?

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Defending Our Veterans: Excluding Veterans’ Benefits from Current Monthly Income

Part of the mission of ABI's newly formed Task Force for Veterans and Servicemembers Affairs is to “remediate and prevent adverse debt concerns and impacts on veterans and servicemembers to ensure that we financially strengthen those that strengthen us with the respect and dignity they deserve.” To that end, the Task Force has focused much of its initial attention on the Bankruptcy Code’s perplexing and inequitable treatment of veterans’ benefits in consumer bankruptcy cases.

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