Chapter 13 Filing Does Not Preclude Appeal.

Following confirmation of an arbitration award, the trial court awarded defendants $19,826 in costs and later $158,471.25 in attorney’s fees. Plaintiff filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy petition which listed the trial court’s cost award, but not the attorney fee award. Defendants filed their proof of claim in the bankruptcy court, listing both the costs and the fee awards. A month later, plaintiff filed her notice of appeal.  After that time, the bankruptcy court confirmed her chapter 13 debt repayment plan. Defendant moved to dismiss her appeal. The state appellate court denied the motion to dismiss, stating: “The confirmed chapter 13 plan does not preclude plaintiff’s appeal challenging the trial court’s cost and attorney fees award. No doubt, plaintiff acknowledged the existing debt in her chapter 13 plan and voluntarily agreed to make payments on it. But nothing in federal bankruptcy law prevents her from, outside the bankruptcy proceeding, challenging the trial court’s authority to impose the obligation on her in the first instance.” (Edwards v. Broadwater Casitas Care Center (Cal.App. Second Dist., Div. 5; December 5, 2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 1300.)