Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts, 549 U.S. 365 (2007), is a United States Supreme Court case about bad faith in bankruptcy.

[1] On March 11, 2003, Robert Marrama filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition under Chapter 7, thereby creating an estate consisting of all his property “wherever located and by whomever held.”[2] Respondent Citizens Bank of Massachusetts was the principal creditor.

In fact, the Maine property had substantial value, and Marrama had transferred it into the newly created trust for no consideration seven months prior to filing his Chapter 13 petition.

Marrama appealed to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit, which affirmed the lower court's ruling.

[6] Citizens Bank argued that the statute uses the word “may” rather than “shall,” leaving room for the courts, in their discretion, to construe a "bad faith" exception to the general rule.