Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/14-116_9o6b.pdf
Page Number: 4

Cite as:  575 U. S. ____ (2015) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash­
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 14–116 
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LOUIS B. BULLARD, PETITIONER v. BLUE HILLS 

BANK, FKA HYDE PARK SAVINGS BANK
 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 

APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
 

[May 4, 2015]

 CHIEF  JUSTICE  ROBERTS  delivered  the  opinion  of  the

Court. 

Chapter  13  of  the  Bankruptcy  Code  affords  individuals 
receiving  regular  income  an  opportunity  to  obtain  some 
relief  from  their  debts  while  retaining  their  property.  To 
proceed under Chapter 13, a debtor must propose a plan to
use  future  income  to  repay  a  portion  (or  in  the  rare  case
all)  of  his  debts  over  the  next  three  to  five  years.    If  the 
bankruptcy  court  confirms  the  plan  and  the  debtor  suc­
cessfully carries it out, he receives a discharge of his debts
according to the plan. 

The  bankruptcy  court  may,  however,  decline to  confirm
a proposed repayment plan because it is inconsistent with
the Code.  Although the debtor is usually given an oppor­
tunity to submit a revised plan, he may be convinced that 
the  original  plan  complied  with  the  Code  and  that  the
bankruptcy  court  was  wrong  to  deny  confirmation.    The 
question  presented  is  whether  such  an  order  denying 
confirmation is a “final” order that the debtor can immedi­
ately appeal.  We hold that it is not.