Background:
- Lawyer filed a Chapter 13 Petition for a woman who died 10 years earlier.
- Filed another Petition for same dead woman 2 years later.
- Lawyer stated he was asked by the woman’s daughter to file.
- Lawyer filed the skeleton petition on the eve of foreclosure of house in estate.
- Informed court he did not know that he could not file bankruptcy for a probate estate.
- Both cases were eventually withdrawn when he was told by the Trustee that dead people cannot file for bankruptcy.
- Judge issued significant sanctions against the Lawyer.
Court Ruling:
- Lawyer made false statements and no excuse for alleging ignorance about rules on filing for a dead person.
- Lawyer did not conduct reasonable investigation into the debtor’s eligibility.
- Lawyer appealed Judge’s ruling and sanctions.
- Nice try by lawyer but no one believed the attorney…..Shame on the attorney.
