Carr v. Clark (In re Clark)

289 B.R. 474, 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 71, 157 Oil & Gas Rep. 1104, 2003 Bankr. LEXIS 118
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedFebruary 11, 2003
DocketBankruptcy No. 97-07770-9P7; Adversary No. 99-576
StatusPublished

This text of 289 B.R. 474 (Carr v. Clark (In re Clark)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carr v. Clark (In re Clark), 289 B.R. 474, 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 71, 157 Oil & Gas Rep. 1104, 2003 Bankr. LEXIS 118 (Fla. 2003).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALEXANDER L. PASKAY, Chief Judge.

THE MATTER before this Court in this Chapter 7 case of Noel Dean Clark, Jr. (Debtor), is an adversary proceeding commenced by Stephany Carr (Trustee) against Jeffery Todd Clark (Defendant). The Trustee’s Complaint was filed on October 4, 1999, and sets forth seven separate claims in seven separate counts. The Counts are summarized as follows.

In Count I, the Trustee seeks declaratory relief to the effect that the recordation of “Court Ordered Mineral Right and Roy-ality [sic] Transfer,” recorded in Official Public Records of Collier County on December 17, 1996 by the Debtor, is legally ineffective to effectuate a transfer of any mineral interests that the Debtor had in Collier County, Florida. (Ex. A to Compl. /Ex. 1 of PL). In said Order, the Debtor purports to transfer to Patricia Ann Clark, his former spouse (Ms. Clark), 50% interest in those mineral rights.

In the same Count, the Trustee alleges that the quit-claim deed executed by Ms. Clark to the Defendant on October 9, 1996 and recorded on January 24, 1997, is void. (Ex. B to Compl./Ex. 2 of PL). In addition, she alleges that the quit-claim deed executed on October 21,1996 and recorded on January 27, 1997, (Ex. C to Compl./Ex. 3 of Pl.) from Ms. Clark to the Driftwood Family Trust (Family Trust), which also purports to transfer a portion of the Debt- or’s mineral interest, is void. Finally, the Trustee alleges that the quit-claim deed executed on July 2, 1997 from Besty Brennan, individually and Betsy Brennan as Trustee of the Family Trust (Ms. Brennan) to the Defendant and recorded on June 17, 1999, is void. (Ex. D to Compl. /Ex. 4 of PL).

In essence, the Trustee seeks a declaration that the first alleged transfer from the Debtor to Ms. Clark, in the form of the recordation of the Order, was not valid, thus any additional transfers of the same subject by Ms. Clark to the Defendant and to the Family Trust, and from the Family [476]*476Trust to the Defendant are also invalid and unenforceable.

Her claim in Count II is based on Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code. In this Count she alleges that if the attempted transfer of December 1996 is valid, that is, the transfer by the Debtor to Ms. Clark, it is a preference and was to an insider, therefore it is voidable since it occurred within one year of the filing of the Debt- or’s Bankruptcy Petition. In this Count, the Trustee seeks a judgment avoiding the transfer from the Debtor to Ms. Clark and also all subsequent transfers by Ms. Clark to the Defendant and to the Family Trust, and from the Family Trust to the Defendant.

The claim in Count III is based on Section 548 of the Code. In this Count, the Trustee alleges that the following transfers made by the Debtor were made with the actual intent to hinder, delay and defraud creditors: (1) quit-claim deed executed on December 24, 1994 and recorded on May 12, 1997 (Ex. E to Compl./Ex. 8 of PL); (2) quit-claim deed executed on December 24, 1994 and recorded on May 12, 1997 (Ex. F to Compl./Ex. 9 of PL); and (3) quit-claim deed executed on December 24, 1994 and recorded on May 17, 1997 (Ex. G to Compl./Ex. 10 of PL).

In addition, the Trustee alleges in Count III that the quit-claim deed from the Family Trust to the Defendant, which transferred certain mineral rights that were originally transferred by the Debtor to the Family Trust (Ex. H to Compl./Ex. 7 of PL), was also transferred with intent to hinder, delay or defraud creditors. In the alternative, she alleges that the transfers were made without a reasonable equivalent value for the property interests transferred by the Debtor who was insolvent at the time.

In Count III, she also seeks a judgment avoiding the transfer by the Family Trust to the Defendant within one year of the filing of the Petition and seeks an attachment against the assets transferred and any proceeds from the interest transferred or, in the alternative, a money judgment for the value of the transferred properties.

The claim in Count IV is based on Section 548 of the Code and is based on the allegation that the following transfers by the Debtor to the Family Trust were made by the Debtor when he was insolvent and for which the Debtor did not receive a reasonable equivalent value. The three transfers involved are the same transfers as described in Count III (Exs. E, F, and G to Compl./Exs. 8, 9, and 10 of PL). Following those transfers, the Trustee alleges that on July 2, 1997, the Family Trust executed a quit-claim deed to the Defendant for the mineral rights which the Family Trust obtained from the Debtor and that the Defendant filed the same in the public records on June 17. 1999 (Ex. H to Compl./Ex. 7 of PL). It is contended by the Trustee that this transfer was also made with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud creditors or, in the alternative, was made without receiving a reasonable equivalent value in exchange for the transfer while the Debtor was insolvent and that the Defendant accepted this transfer with the full knowledge that the property so transferred had been fraudulently transferred to the Family Trust by the Debtor. The Trustee seeks a judgment in this Count to avoid the transfer from the Family Trust to the Defendant or for attachment against any assets transferred and proceeds from the interest or, in the alternative, for the value of the transferred properties.

In Count V, the Trustee seeks to avoid as fraudulent transfers, under the Uniform Transfer Act, Fla. Stat. § 726.101 et seq., as made applicable by Section 544(b) of the Code, the transfers from the Family Trust [477]*477to the Defendant. The allegations in this Count are identical as recited earlier and involve the following transfers: (a) quitclaim deed executed on December 23, 1994 and recorded on February 7,1995 (Ex. I to Compl./Ex. 11 of PL); (b) quit-claim deed executed on December 24, 1994 and recorded on February 7, 1995 (Ex. J to Compl./Ex. 12 of PL); (c) the three quitclaim deeds previously identified (Exs. E, F, and G to Compl./Exs. 8, 9, and 10 of PL); and (d) Assignment dated July 1, 1994 and recorded on February 7, 1995 (Ex. K to ComplTEx. 13 of PL).

Following these transfers from the Debtor to the Family Trust, the Family Trust quit-claim deeded its interest to the Defendant and also assigned the transferred assignment to the Defendant (Ex. H and L to Compl./Ex. 7 and 14 of PL). In this Count, the Trustee seeks a judgment avoiding these transfers from the Family Trust to the Defendant and, again, seeks an attachment against the assets transferred and any proceeds or, in the alternative, the value of the transferred properties.

In Count VI, the Trustee seeks to avoid as fraudulent transfers, under the Uniform Transfer Act, Fla. Stat. § 726.101 et seq., as made applicable by Section 544(b) of the Code, transfers from the Family Trust to the Defendant. The allegations and relief are identical as set forth in Count V.

The last count in the Complaint, Count VII is based on the theory of constructive trust. In this Count, the Trustee alleges that she is entitled to a decree for the imposition of a constructive trust on all the properties which were transferred and recited above based on the allegation that the Defendant and the Family Trust were part of a scheme and conspiracy, in combination with the Debtor to defraud the creditors of the Debtor.

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Bluebook (online)
289 B.R. 474, 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 71, 157 Oil & Gas Rep. 1104, 2003 Bankr. LEXIS 118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carr-v-clark-in-re-clark-flmb-2003.