Alderman v. Martinson (In Re Alderman)

195 B.R. 106, 96 Daily Journal DAR 8612, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 3475, 1996 Bankr. LEXIS 450, 1996 WL 224570
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMarch 29, 1996
DocketBAP No. MT-95-1721-AsMeHi. Bankruptcy No. 92-11232-7
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 195 B.R. 106 (Alderman v. Martinson (In Re Alderman)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alderman v. Martinson (In Re Alderman), 195 B.R. 106, 96 Daily Journal DAR 8612, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 3475, 1996 Bankr. LEXIS 450, 1996 WL 224570 (bap9 1996).

Opinions

OPINION

ASHLAND, Bankruptcy Judge:

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The debtors William and Darlene Aider-man filed Chapter 13 on August 6, 1992 and their third amended plan was ordered confirmed February 16, 1993. At the time of filing, the debtors were partners in the Alderman Ranch Partnership which owned certain real property of which William Alderman held a 12.2% interest. The debtors had previously filed a Declaration of Homestead with respect to the property in June 1992 and their Chapter 13 schedules reflected a claimed homestead exemption valued at the “maximum allowed.” Under Montana law, a homestead exemption is allowed up to $40,-000. Mont.Code Ann. § 70-32-104(1) (1994).

Earlier in the proceedings, the trustee had objected to the debtors’ second amended plan arguing that partnership property could not be claimed under the homestead exemption and as a consequence the debtors’ plan failed the best interest of creditors test under § 1325(a)(4). The court held that exemptions which had not been timely objected to were valid under the holding of Taylor v. Freeland & Kronz, 503 U.S. 638, 112 S.Ct. 1644, 118 L.Ed.2d 280 (1992), and could not be considered in determining the best interest of creditors. The decision of the bankruptcy court is reported at In re Alderman, 150 B.R. 246 (Bankr.D.Mont.1993).

[108]*108The debtors later moved to convert their case to one under Chapter 7 which was granted on December 2, 1994. By order of the court January 26,1995, the debtors were allowed to amend their schedules. The homestead exemption claimed on Schedule B-4 and listed on Schedule C was not amended or modified. It continued to show the debtors as having a 12.2% interest in the partnership property and claiming an exemption value to the “maximum allowed.” Although it is not clear from the record when the debtors amended their schedules it appears that the Chapter 7 trustee did not object to the claimed homestead exemption within the time prescribed by Bankruptcy Rule 4003(b).

Prior to conversion, on May 16, 1994, the partnership property was sold for $700,000 pursuant to a contract for deed. The sum of $287,000 was paid upon execution of the contract. The balance of $413,000 with interest at 7.5% was to be paid as follows: 1) payment of $38,000 on January 1, 1995, and 2) the balance of $375,000 plus interest paid in annual amortized installments of $51,262.50 commencing January 1, 1996 until paid in full. It is important to note that the closing documents determined that William Aider-man held a 14.54% interest in the property. On January 1, 1995, the buyers made the requisite payment of $38,000, plus accrued interest. Accordingly, the escrow agent disbursed $8,350.85 to the debtor, representing his 14.54% share of the proceeds plus interest.

On April 26, 1995, the Chapter 7 trustee filed a motion to determine the homestead exemption value and requested that any excess be turned over to the estate. In Montana, the maximum homestead allowance is $40,000, and the trustee argued that the debtor’s exemption should be limited to either 12.2% or 14.54% of that amount, whichever properly represented the amount of his ownership interest. Debtors countered that the objection was untimely under the holding in Taylor, and that a $40,000 exemption had been allowed in the earlier Alderman decision and in their confirmed Chapter 13 plan.

The bankruptcy court characterized the issue as a determination of the allowable exemption amount not as an objection to the exemption itself. Montana limits a claimant’s homestead exemption to an amount proportional to his undivided interest. See Mont.Code Ann. § 70-32-104(2) (1994). As such, the court fixed the exemption at $5,816 or 14.54% of the maximum homestead allowance and ordered that the excess payments be turned over to the estate. The debtors filed a timely appeal.

ISSUED PRESENTED

1. Whether the homestead exemption in a case converted from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 is determined at the time of the original petition or upon the date of conversion.

2. Whether the trustee’s motion to determine the homestead exemption value was untimely under Bankruptcy Rule 4003(b) and the holding in Taylor v. Freeland & Kronz, 503 U.S. 638,112 S.Ct. 1644,118 L.Ed.2d 280 (1992).

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The bankruptcy court’s conclusions of law are reviewed de novo. In re Pacific Far East Lines, Inc., 889 F.2d 242, 245 (9th Cir.1989); In re McNutt, 87 B.R. 84, 85 (9th Cir. BAP 1988).

DISCUSSION

1. Date for determination of homestead exemption.

The debtors argue that the bankruptcy court improperly reduced the amount of their homestead exemption from $40,000 to $5,816 and present the following line of reasoning in support thereof. They contend that a petitioner’s rights to exemptions are determined as of the date of the bankruptcy petition and note that Bankruptcy Code 348(a) states that conversion from one chapter to another of the code does not change the filing date of the petition. Thus, when the Chapter 13 trustee failed to timely object under Bankruptcy Rule 4003(a) to the homestead exemption it could no longer be objected to pursuant to the holding of Taylor v. Freeland & Kronz, 503 U.S. 638, 112 S.Ct. 1644, 118 L.Ed.2d 280 (1992).

[109]*109They further argue that the holding of Alderman and the subsequent confirmation of their third amended Chapter 13 plan which recognized a $40,000 exemption is res judicata with respect to this same issue in the Chapter 7 proceeding. Alternatively, they note that following conversion the Chapter 7 trustee likewise failed to object to the homestead exemption claimed in their amended schedules. Apparently the manner in which the exemption was claimed in the Chapter 13 schedules remained the same in Chapter 7. Because they claimed an exempt value up to the “maximum allowed,” the debtors argue that they are entitled to the full $40,000 homestead allowed under Montana law.

In In re Winchester, 46 B.R. 492 (9th Cir. BAP 1984), the panel determined that homestead exemptions are determined on the date of conversion from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7. There, the appellants had argued that the court should look to the original petition date to determine what assets constituted property of the Chapter 7 estate and what exemptions the debtor was entitled to. The Winchester panel considered the interplay between several code sections and concluded that “logic dictates that the date of conversion is the controlling date_” 46 B.R. at 495.

The panel began by noting that property of the estate under § 541 is determined upon commencement of the case, and that § 348(a) states that conversion from one chapter of the code to another does not effect a change in the date of the commencement of the case or the filing of the petition. Thus, the original petition date will normally determine the property of the estate in converted eases. However, the Winchester panel went on to note that after-acquired property is also property of the estate under § 1306(a)(1).

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Bluebook (online)
195 B.R. 106, 96 Daily Journal DAR 8612, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 3475, 1996 Bankr. LEXIS 450, 1996 WL 224570, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alderman-v-martinson-in-re-alderman-bap9-1996.