2. (§3.11) Effect of Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005
The status of a debtor’s postpetition earnings is not changed by BAPCPA in individual Chapter 7, 12, or 13 cases. But BAPCPA added a new section, at 11 U.S.C. § 1115, which defines property of the estate in individual Chapter 11 cases. Property of the estate in these cases now includes:
(1) all property of the kind specified in section 541 that the debtor acquires after the commencement of the case but before the case is closed, dismissed, or converted to . . . [another] chapter . . .; and
(2) earnings from services performed by the debtor after the commencement of the case but before the case is closed, dismissed, or converted to . . . [another] chapter . . . .
See also §3.41, infra.
It should be noted, however, that under BAPCPA, the notion of postpetition income is not synonymous with “disposable income,” which is a fictitious figure derived through application of a means test and on which a debtor’s repayment commitment is based. “Disposable income,” under pre-BAPCPA 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b)(2) meant just that—income not reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor, the debtor’s dependents, or the debtor’s business. Under BAPCPA, § 1325(b)(1)(B) and (b)(2), “disposable income” starts with the debtor’s “current monthly income,” a new term defined in 11 U.S.C. § 101(10A). Because of the...
