Luster v. Collins (In Re Collins)

The trustee of Jeffrey Dale Collins’s bankruptcy estate appeals an exemption Collins received for anticipated Earned Income Tax Credit payments under 26 U.S.C. § 32. The bankruptcy court and the district court rejected the trustee’s objections to the exemption. Both courts relied on other lower court opinions, acknowledging that some bankruptcy courts have construed the relevant provision of Louisiana law differently. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 158(d) and review the issue de novo.

A bankruptcy estate ordinarily includes “all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as…