Phelps, Receiver in Bankruptcy v. United States

Decided May 19, 1975. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-121 · 421 U.S. 330 (1975) · Cited 167 times

Holding

The United States, by serving the bankrupt taxpayer's assignee with a valid notice of levy took constructive custody of the cash proceeds in the assignee's possession, and neither the bankrupt nor petitioner as receiver could assert a claim to those proceeds.

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 9–0.

“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. Bess · 357 U.S. 51 (1958)
• Taubel-Scott-Kitzmiller Co. v. Fox · 264 U.S. 426 (1924)
• Cline v. Kaplan · 323 U.S. 97 (1944)
• Sims v. United States · 359 U.S. 108 (1959)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• United States v. Whiting Pools, Inc. · 462 U.S. 198 (1983)
• United States v. National Bank of Commerce · 472 U.S. 713 (1985)
• G. M. Leasing Corp. v. United States · 429 U.S. 338 (1977)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1975). 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).