Eleiwa v. Whitmore (In re Eleiwa)
- Citation:
- Case No. 12-1559 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. June 5, 2013)
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- In AFFIRMING in part and VACATING and REMANDING in part the bankruptcy court's order sustaining of the chapter 7 trustee's objection to the debtor's claimed homestead exemption in two real properties and "tools of the trade" exemption in two vehicles scheduled as belonging to her spouse, the BAP ruled that: because (1) the real properties, which were transferred 14 months prepetition with the grant deeds showing a trust of which the debtor was a co-trustee as the transferror, were not property of the estate; and (2) alternatively, the debtor did not reside in either of the real properties, the bankruptcy court did not err in sustaining the trustee's objection to the homestead exemption. Additionally, the BAP also ruled that the trustee did not present any evidence to rebut the exemption in the vehicles as the debtor's spouse's tools of trade; nonetheless, because the debtor's claimed exemption as to one of the vehicles exceeded the statutory limit, the bankruptcy court did not err in disallowing that claimed exemption. The BAP remanded for a determination as to whether the vehicles constituted property of the estate.
- Procedural context:
- Appeal of the bankruptcy court's order sustaining the chapter 7 trustee's objections to the debtor's claimed homestead exemptions in two real properties and "tools of the trade" exemptions in two vehicles.
- Facts:
- The debtor's petition stated she lived in San Bernardino County, California. The debtor's schedules listed two real properties, both in Orange County, California. The debtor also listed two vehicles, but indicated they were the property of her spouse. The two Orange County properties were transferred 14 months prior to the petition date. The grant deeds for each of the real properties listed the transferror as a trust for which the debtor was a co-trustee. The chapter 7 trustee sought to avoid the transfers as fraudulent and obtained a default judgment. Before the default judgment was entered, the debtor amended Schedule C to change her exemptions as to the real properties and the two vehicles, claiming total homestead exemptions of $175,000, and tools of the trade exemptions in the vehicles of $9,279 total. The chapter 7 trustee objected to these exemptions. With respect to the real properties, the bankruptcy court sustained the objections to the exemptions on two alternative grounds: (1) the properties were not property of the estate; and (2) the debtor did not reside in either of the properties. With respect to the vehicles, the bankruptcy court sustained the objections to the exemptions on the basis that the debtor did not present sufficient evidence demonstrating that the vehicles were her tools of the trade.
- Judge(s):
- Clement, Dunn, and Kirscher
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