Condit v. McKeithan (In re McKeithan)
- Citation:
- Condit v. McKeithan (In re McKeithan), No. 11-41305 (5th Cir. August 21, 2012)
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- Fifth Circuit AFFIRMED the bankruptcy court's decision to overrule a creditor's objection to a chapter 7 debtor's homestead exemption claim. The creditor did not present enough evidence to support its view that the debtor had abandoned her homestead. Abandonment requires “both the cessation or discontinuance of use of the property as a homestead, coupled with the intent to permanently abandon the homestead.” Whether a homestead has been abandoned is a finding of fact. And the bankruptcy court did not commit a clear error in finding that the evidence before it, "[r]ather than showing [the debtor's] intent to permanently relocate, ... indicates that [the debtor] has resided with her daughter [and away from the property claimed as exempt] because she has gone through a series of personal trials and has needed her daughter’s full-time assistance."
- Procedural context:
- Appeal from bankruptcy court's order on an objection to the debtor's claimed homestead exemption and the district court's affirmance of that order.
- Facts:
- Debtor claimed a homestead exemption on a property in Texas where she had not lived since visiting her daughter in Louisiana nine years earlier. For mostly medical reasons, the debtor had to remain with her daughter, but she "testified that despite residing with her daughter, she has always aimed at returning to her [Texas] home." Although the debtor's daughter had urged the debtor to sell the house, the debtor refused, citing her desire to return to it. The debtor had also kept the house’s utilities, taxes, and insurance up to date, paid for monthly yard care, and kept a land-line telephone account.
- Judge(s):
- WIENER, ELROD, and GRAVES,
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