Wade, Jr. v. Stevens (In re Wade)

Summarized by Thomas Phinney , Felderstein Fitzgerald Willoughby Pascuzzi & Rios LLP
10 years 3 months ago

Citation:

9th Cir. BAP No. NC-15-1031-DJuTa (Nov. 3, 2015) (unpublished)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

BAP affirmed bankruptcy court order that allowance of Debtor's homestead exemption in the bankruptcy case did not affect state court divorce litigation in which Debtor lost his rights to the homestead property.

Procedural context:

Chapter 7 debtor in a no-asset case sought an order from the bankruptcy court awarding him an exemption in his residence property. The bankruptcy court determined that the relief it could award was limited to an order recognizing that the claimed exemption was valid for purposes of the bankruptcy case only. The debtor appealed, asserting that the bankruptcy court erred when it did not determine that the “allowed” exemption was effective in state court proceedings in which a judgment creditor was seeking to exercise rights against the subject property. The BAP affirmed the bankruptcy court order.

Facts:

Debtor's ex-wife was awarded a 60% interest in the Debtor's residence as part of a divorce settlement and judgment, which called for a sale of the property. Ex-wife got relief from stay to enforce her interest in the divorce settlement and judgment, and the state court awarded her the Debtor's remaining 40% interest as a result of his efforts to prevent the ex-wife from realizing on her 60%. The Debtor unsuccessfully sought to use his exemption claim in bankruptcy court to "trump" the state court litigation.

Judge(s):

DUNN, JURY, and TAYLOR

ABI Membership is required to access the full summary. Please Sign In using your ABI Member credentials. Not a Member yet? Join ABI now - it is absolutely worth it!