Williamson v. Murray (In re Murray)
- Summarized by Steven Mulligan , Coan, Payton & Payne, LLC
- 10 years 2 weeks ago
- Citation:
- Williamson v. Murray (In re Murray), Case No. KS-13-034; Baer v. Beach (In re Beach), Case No. KS-13-037 (B.A.P. 10th Cir. March 4, 2014) (published)
- Tag(s):
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- Ruling:
- Chapter 7 trustees’ strong arm rights and powers apply to property of the estate, but do not extend to property specifically exempted by state law and determined to be an integral part of a debtor’s fresh start. Further, the Kansas’ bankruptcy only exemption for earned income tax credits is not unconstitutional.
- Procedural context:
- Consolidated appeals from the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas overruling chapter 7 trustees’ objections to debtors’ earned income tax credit exemption claim. Reviewed de novo.
- Facts:
- Kansas does not follow the Bankruptcy Code’s rules regarding exemptions and under Kansas law, an individual debtor in bankruptcy can claim federal and Kansas earned income tax credits (“EITC”) as exempt – this exemption applies only to bankruptcy debtors and not to general debtors. In each of the underlying Bankruptcy Cases, chapter 7 debtors claimed their EITCs as exempt and each of the trustees objected to the exemption arguing that section 544 allowed the trustees to reach the EITCs. The debtors' requests for fees for a frivilous appeal were denied.
- Judge(s):
- Thurman, Cornish, Mosier (Cornish)
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