Lynwood D. Hall, et Ux., Petitioners v. United States
Decided May 14, 2012. Sonia Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 10-875 · 566 U.S. 506 (2012) · Cited 126 times
Holding
The federal income tax liability resulting from petitioners’ postpetition farm sale is not “incurred by the estate” under § 503(b) of the Bankruptcy Code and thus is neither collectible nor dischargeable in the Chapter 12 plan.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 5–4.
Majority · 5
- Sonia Sotomayor · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Antonin Scalia
- Clarence Thomas
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Dissenting · 4
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Elena Kagan
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · filed a dissenting opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- United States v. Noland · 517 U.S. 535 (1996)
- Dewsnup v. Timm · 502 U.S. 410 (1992)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
- Cohen v. De La Cruz · 523 U.S. 213 (1998)
- Miles v. Apex Marine Corp. · 498 U.S. 19 (1990)
- Hibbs v. Winn · 542 U.S. 88 (2004)
- Powerex Corp. v. Reliant Energy Services, Inc. · 551 U.S. 224 (2007)
- Hamilton v. Lanning · 560 U.S. 505 (2010)
- Nicholas v. United States · 384 U.S. 678 (1966)
- Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T Inc. · 562 U.S. 397 (2011)
- Holywell Corp. v. Smith · 503 U.S. 47 (1992)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Mississippi Ex Rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp. · 571 U.S. 161 (2014)
- Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P. · 603 U.S. 204 (2024)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Sonia Sotomayor’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2012). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).