However, a recent decision by the Supreme Court has shifted this power towards the debtor. In Rousey v. Jacoway (http://www.law.cornell.edu/ supct/html/03-1407.ZS.html), (April 4th, 2005), the Court held that assets in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA’s) (http://www.investopedia.com/ terms/i/ira.asp) are protected under 11 U.S.C § 522(d) and thus exempt from withdrawal from the bankruptcy estate. This decision has broad implications for the baby-boomer generation, providing millions of Americans nearing retirement with increased protection of their earnings.
Recent passage of the Bankruptcy Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/ z?d109:SN00256:TOM:/bss/d109query.html) in April 2005 has also resulted in major reforms in bankrupcy law, outlining revised guidelines governing the dismissal or conversion of Chapter 7 liquidations to Chapter 11 or 13 proceedings. The law also expands the responsibilities of the United States Trustees Program to include supervision of random and targeted audits, certification of entities to provide credit counseling that individuals must receive before filing for bankruptcy, certification of entities that provide financial education to individuals before being discharged from debt, and greater oversight of small business Chapter 11 reorganization cases.