Opinion ID: 163850
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 The appellants, Dale Ogle Midkiff and Anita Joyce Midkiff (the Midkiffs), filed for relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code on January 8, 1998. The Midkiffs' bankruptcy plan required payments for at least thirty-six months, up to a maximum of forty-one months. The plan included a provision that income tax refunds to which the Midkiffs would be entitled during the first thirty-six months of the plan were to be deemed disposable income and submitted to the Trustee. 1 Aple's Supp.App. at 7 ¶ 1.C. (Second Amended Chapter 13 Plan, filed Apr. 6, 1998). 3 On March 6, 2001, thirty-four months into the plan, in response to a request from the Midkiffs to prepay their remaining obligations, the Trustee sent a letter informing them that $285.92 was needed to complete the plan. The Trustee soon received the Midkiffs' final payment, and on April 4, 2001, the Trustee filed her Certificate of Completion. On April 20, 2001, the Trustee filed her Final Account and Petition for Final Decree. On April 24, 2001, the Bankruptcy Court entered the Debtors' Discharge. 4 Also on April 24, however, the Trustee filed a Revocation of Trustee's Certificate of Completion, noting that the Trustee had received the Midkiffs' 2000 federal tax refund [a]fter filing the [C]ertificate [of Completion] but before the discharge had been granted. Aple's Supp.App. at 1 (Revocation of Trustee's Certificate of Completion, dated Apr. 24, 2001). Shortly thereafter, the Trustee filed in the Bankruptcy Court a Chapter 13 Trustee's Request to Vacate Order Discharging Debtor, Aple's Supp.App. at 2 (filed May 2, 2001). She stated that on April 24, after she had filed her Certificate of Completion, she had received a check from the United States Treasury (dated April 20, 2001) in the amount of $4974.00 for the Midkiffs's 2000 federal tax refund, which was disposable income under the plan. Id. at 3-4. The Trustee asserted that the Discharge Order, which the Bankruptcy Court had entered at the request of the Trustee, was entered by mistake, because the Trustee had been surprised by newly discovered evidence. Id. at 5. This, the Trustee concluded, justified vacating the Discharge Order under Rule 9024 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, which provides for relief from final orders under conditions including mistake, surprise, and newly discovered evidence. 5 After a telephonic hearing, the Bankruptcy Court found that the tax refund resulted from the Midkiffs' income during the relevant three-year period and that, according to the plan, the tax refund was disposable income and must be applied to the plan payments. The Bankruptcy Court then granted the Trustee's request to vacate the Discharge Order to allow the Trustee to collect and disburse the income tax refund in accordance with the plan. The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) affirmed. In re Midkiff, 271 B.R. 383, 388 (10th Cir. B.A.P. 2002).