Opinion ID: 541990
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Bankruptcy Code Section 541

Text: 6 Section 541 of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 defines the property of the estate in bankruptcy that may come within the reach of creditors. The general rule of this Bankruptcy Code provision, helpful to the bankruptcy trustee here so far as it goes, is that the property of the estate is to be defined very broadly to include all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property at the commencement of a case under Title 11. 11 U.S.C. Sec. 541(a)(1). The debtor, however, bases his case on the fact that Section 541(a)(1) directs the reader to Section 541(c)(2), which contains the following exception: A restriction on the transfer of a beneficial interest of the debtor in a trust that is enforceable under applicable nonbankruptcy law is enforceable in a case under this title. 2 7 The third and final provision of Section 541 cited by the parties is alleged to be relevant to the question of whether distributions of the spendthrift trusts made to the debtor during the 180 days following his petition for bankruptcy are property of the estate. This provision includes within the definition of an estate certain property interests that may enrich the estate shortly after the debtor files for bankruptcy: 8 (5) Any interest in property that would have been property of the estate if such interest had been an interest of the debtor on the date of the filing of the petition, and that the debtor acquires or becomes entitled to acquire within 180 days after such date-- 9 (A) by bequest, devise, or inheritance;    11 U.S.C. Sec. 541(a)(5).