Don't Get Cute With Bankruptcy Court

From the Washington Post:

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a financially troubled businessman lost an important right under the federal bankruptcy code because he failed to disclose all of his assets as the law requires.

In a 5-to-4 decision in Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts, the court said Robert Marrama of Gloucester, Mass., could not convert his bankruptcy case from one chapter of the code to another, as the law ordinarily allows.

The reason, the court said, stemmed from his failure to disclose a Maine vacation home placed in a trust. Marrama, who operated a flooring company, listed the value of his interest in the property as zero, according to papers in the case