Saldana v. Bronitsky (In re Saldana), 122 F.4th 333 (9th Cir. Nov. 22, 2024)
In Saldana v. Bronitsky (In re Saldana), 122 F.4th 333 (9th Cir. Nov. 22, 2024), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal (“Ninth Circuit”), in a 2-1 decision, reversed a prior holding by the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (“BAP”). The Ninth Circuit, in Saldana, held that voluntary contributions to employer-managed retirement plans are not disposable income which must be included in determining minimum required payments to creditors in a debtor’s Chapter 13 plan. The Ninth Circuit’s ruling creates a circuit split, because US Circuit Courts in Circuits other than the Ninth Circuit, have ruled opposite to how the Ninth Circuit just ruled. This “Circuit split” will likely result in the US Supreme Court to eventually grants a petition for certiorari on this issue, and to decide this issue, which will then bind all Courts in the US.