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Can the chapter 13 debtor appeal confirmation of her own plan? Yes.
Zahn v. Fink (In re Zahn) ---- F. 3d ----, 2008 WL 2130508 (8th
Cir., May, 2008)
Issue: May the chapter 13 debtor appeal confirmation of her own
chapter 13 plan? May a debtor appeal a refusal to confirm a chapter
13 plan?
Holding: Yes, when she has been forced by the court to file a
plan to which she objects. No, denial of confirmation is not a final
order.
The debtor filed a 36 month chapter 13 plan. The trustee objected
saying that the plan must be 60 months because she must include her
husband's IRA distributions in her CMI. The court agreed. The
debtor appealed and the BAP dismissed the appeal as interlocutory.
The debtor amended the plan increasing it to 60 months and filed an
objection to the plan. The court confirmed the plan and the BAP
dismissed the appeal saying the debtor has no standing.
The 8th Cir reversed on the standing issue. "The BAP correctly
recognized, `n order to have standing to appeal the decision of
the bankruptcy court, an appellant must be a person
aggrieved.'" "The BAP then concluded `[Zahn] is not an aggrieved
party.'" "The BAP reasoned, '[w]hen the court confirmed her plan,
[Zahn] got all the relief for which she asked.'" "That a party may
appeal from a judgment in his favor when there has been some error
prejudicial to him, or he has not received all he is entitled to, has
quite generally been held by the courts, and there is no sound reason
otherwise." "The extended length of Zahn's plana consequence of
the inclusion of her non-filing husband's IRA distributionsis
material and prejudicial to Zahn. Zahn is thereby an
aggrieved party." The 8th Circuit also confirmed that denial of a
chapter 13 plan is not an appealable order.
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