Trustee in bankruptcy

“ It is admitted that a general assignment for the benefit of creditors, made within four months from the filing of a petition in bankruptcy, is void as against the trustee in bankruptcy, so far as it interferes with his administering the property assigned. ”

“ If a trustee had been appointed, the title to the books would have vested in him by the express terms of § 70, and the bankrupt could not have withheld possession of what he no longer owned, on the ground that otherwise he might be punished. That is one of the misfortunes of bankruptcy if it follows crime. The right not to be compelled to be a witness against oneself is not a right to appropriate property that may tell one's story. As the bankruptcy court could have enforced title in favor of the trustee, it could enforce possession ad interim in favor of the receiver. ”

“ A trustee in bankruptcy does not, in such circumstances, occupy the same position as a creditor levying under an execution, or by attachment, and his rights, in this exceptional case, and for the reasons just indicated, are somewhat different from what they are generally stated. ”

“ Unlike a pre-bankruptcy promise of a gift or bequest, passing title to the trustee does not make it unlikely the gift or bequest will be effected. Nor does passing the claim hinder the bankrupt from starting out on a clean slate, for any administrative inconvenience to the bankrupt will not be prolonged, see 110 U.Pa.L.Rev., at 279-280, and the bankrupt without a refund claim to preserve has more reason to earn income rather than less. ”

“ It cannot be that a bankrupt, by omitting to schedule and withholding from his trustee all knowledge of certain property, can, after his estate in bankruptcy has been finally closed up, immediately thereafter assert title to the property on the ground that the trustee had never taken any action in respect to it. ”

“ While in fact the trustee can obviate this detriment to the estate-by selling a contingent claim in some instances or simply forgoing it-inconvenience and hindrance might be caused for the bankrupt individual. Without ruling in any way on a question not before us, it is enough to say that a carryover into post-bankruptcy years can be distinguished conceptually as well as practically. The bankrupts in this case had both prior net income and a net loss when their petitions were filed and apparently would have deserved an immediate refund had their tax year terminated on that date ”

“ By allowing a trustee to recapture payments made to creditors 90 days before a bankruptcy petition is filed, the preference provision prevents anxious creditors from grabbing payments from an insolvent debtor and hence getting more than their fair share. After today, however, any State owed money by a debtor with financial problems will have a strong incentive to collect whatever it can, as fast as it can, even if doing so pushes the debtor into bankruptcy. Ordinary creditors will soon realize that States can receive more than their fair share ”

“ In neither does the decision militate against the conclusion which we reach here that the bankrupt alone cannot invoke a judgment which would preclude the exercise of the privilege reserved to the trustee to assert rights under the lien.
Bankruptcy proceedings do not, merely by virtue of their maintenance, terminate an action already pending in a nonbankruptcy court, to which the bankrupt is a party. ”

“ If the trustee has the right to obtain possession of the money from the surety, he must assert it in accordance with the provisions of § 23 of the bankruptcy act, and not by this summary proceeding in bankruptcy. ”

“ Whenever a composition is not confirmed, the estate shall be administered in bankruptcy as herein provided.' Composition is thus treated, even in the act, as in some respects outside of bankruptcy. In the ordinary case of distribution by a trustee, the debtor's whole property, save that which is exempt, is applicable to the payment of his debts, and belongs to his creditors, and not to him, until their claims have been satisfied. After adjudication there is no voluntary offer to pay by the bankrupt, and no bargained release by the creditor. ”

“ We need not determine whether, without legislation such as the 1934 Act, the fact that a local business in bankruptcy is operated by a bankruptcy trustee makes the business immune from State laws and valid measures for their enforcement. ”

“ Provided, that when any bankrupt shall have any insurance policy, which has a cash surrender value payable to himself, his estate, or personal representatives, he may, within thirty days after the cash surrender value has been ascertained and stated to the trustee by the company issuing the same, pay or secure to the trustee the sum so ascertained and stated, and continue to hold, own, and carry such policy free from the claims of the creditors participating in the distribution of his estate under the bankruptcy proceedings ”

“ Does § 2, sub. a [21] go further and apply to a case where a receiver is appointed within four months of bankruptcy as an incident to enforcement of a mortgage lien whose validity is not challenged? Prior to the Chandler Act such proceedings were not superseded by bankruptcy. They survived bankruptcy, the interest of the estate in them being protected by the intervention of the bankruptcy trustee. ”

“ Article 587, paragraph 1 of the Law is amended to read as follows: “A
person may not be appointed as a bankruptcy trustee if he is a creditor,
debtor, or competitor of the bankrupt, the spouse of the bankrupt, or has a
relation to the bankrupt of the fourth degree or closer. He may not be
appointed if he has been a partner, employee, accountant, or agent
(attorney) of the bankrupt during the two years preceding the declaration of
bankruptcy. ”