Chapter 13 Debtor Could Not Defer Surrender of Her Home Until Her Son Graduated High School

In re Thompson, from the District of Massachusetts (17-11318-MSH), the court rejected a plan that delayed the surrender of a house so the debtor's child could finish high school without moving. The court reasoned, among other things, that "if a secured creditor is legally foreclosed from immediately obtaining the property that a debtor proposes to surrender and the debtor does not in fact voluntarily relinquish all rights in the property, including the right to possession, to the secured creditor, then the debtor can in no way be said to have “surrendered” any of his rights in the property.