Subjectivity, Good Faith and the Expanded Chapter 13 Discharge

This article considers the good faith requirement in the confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan that seeks to discharge debts which would be nondischargeable in a Chapter 7 case. Part II of the article examines issues of discharge and dischargeability under American bankruptcy law, both in the historical development of bankruptcy law and under the Bankruptcy Code. Part III examines the good faith requirement applicable in Chapter 13 cases, both in the filing of the case under Section 1307(c) of the Bankruptcy Code and in presentation of the Chapter 13 plan under Section 1325(a). Part IV of the article examines the application of the good faith standard when a plan proposes to take advantage of Chapter 13's "superdischarge." This section explores the quid pro quo inherent in the "superdischarge," and the ways in which questions of good faith expose bankruptcy law's dependence on moral judgments and subjective assessments of debtors' conduct and motivations.

3 Part V concludes that application of the quidpro quo, although characterized by subjective judgment, is consistent with the purposes underlying the "superdischarge" and fundamental bankruptcy policy