Don't think you need to know about the 2005 Federal Bankruptcy Act?--think again!

The Bankruptcy Abuse Protection and Consumer Protection Act has important and wide-reaching implications not only for bankruptcy lawyers but also for those whose practices focus on estate planning, real estate, asset preservation, business, and litigation. From now on, almost every attorney will need to know a little about federal bankruptcy law; most importantly about the act.

In an effort to apprise Florida's nonbankruptcy practitioners of the impact of the act on their everyday practices, members of the Asset Preservation Committee of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section have written a series of articles highlighting these issues:

1) Homestead. The act has important implications for the creditor protection traditionally afforded homestead under Florida law. At the same time, the act appears to leave unanswered several important questions.

2) Domicile. A debtor who is a legal resident of Florida can, in a bankruptcy proceeding, generally have the protection of more favorable exemptions under Florida law. The recent Xifaras case underscores the importance of domicile--and, in particular, having a domicile in Florida--the context of federal bankruptcy proceedings.

3) IRAs and Other Retirement Plans (Including 529 Plans). The act generally provides enhanced protection for IRAs and qualified retirement plans, but only up to a certain point. Changes to F.S. [subsection] 222.21 and .22, enacted by the legislature this year, may afford greater protection to IRAs and other retirement accounts than pertain under the act.

4) Changes to Florida's Limited Partnership Laws. In 2005, the Florida Legislature made important changes to Florida's limited partnership laws that make the limited partnership the entity of choice for many estate and asset preservation planners. The enhanced protection now afforded to limited partnerships may open doors that were closed by other provisions of the act.

5) Ethics. The increased attention the act will demand of nonbankruptcy lawyers will present ethical issues that may be new to some practitioners. The authors discuss ethical issues that arise in an asset preservation practice in general, touching, where relevant, on how the act will create new challenges and opportunities for lawyers not specializing in this area.

The Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section's Asset Preservation Committee is dedicated to educating its members, and all Florida attorneys, about legal and ethical issues that arise in lawfully shielding assets from the claims of creditors. if you want to be involved, contact Barry Nelson, chair of the committee, at [e-mail].

Richard R. Gans, Sarasota, is special editor for the series of articles that follow. He is board certified in wills, trusts and estates, and is a member of the Asset Preservation Committee. Mr Gans is the regular editor for trusts and estates articles submitted to The Florida Bar Journal on behalf of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section.