- Case Type:
- Consumer
- Case Status:
- Affirmed
- Citation:
- 20-60014 (9th Circuit, Mar 01,2021) Published
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- A chapter 7 debtor retains her Washington state homestead exemption even if she moves out of the house after the filing of the bankruptcy case and does not re-occupy or file a declaration of abandonment within six months after vacating the house. Chapter 7 involves a "snapshot" of the debtor's assets, liabilities, and rights to exemption, on the filing date. The debtor's subsequent actions generally do not affect that snapshot or the debtor's rights.
Per curiam, the Ninth Circuit panel affirmed, adopted and republished the March 23, 2020, decision of the BAP in case number WW-19-1224-LBG.
- Procedural context:
- The chapter 7 trustee objected to the debtor's homestead exemption because the debtor moved out of her house after filing bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court denied the trustee's objection. The trustee appealed to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, which affirmed the bankruptcy court. The trustee appealed again.
- Facts:
- Jesslyn Renee Anderson filed a chapter 7 petition in December 2017. In her schedules, Anderson declared that she owned a 15% interest in a house that she co-owned with her parents. She scheduled the value of her interest at $90,000 and declared a homestead exemption of $125,000 on her interest under RCW §§ 6.13.010, 6.13.020, and 6.13.030.
After she filed her bankruptcy case, Anderson got married and moved out of the house to live with her spouse.
The chapter 7 trustee objected to the exemption, arguing that Anderson did not intend to live in the house when she filed her bankruptcy petition and that, under Washington law, she had abandoned the her interest in the house post-petition by failing to reside there for six months or to file a declaration of homestead.
- Judge(s):
- M. Margaret McKeown and Richard A. Paez, Circuit Judges, and William Horsley Orrick (N.D. Cal.; by designation)
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