Fisher v. Santry (In re Santry)

481 B.R. 824
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedSeptember 4, 2012
DocketBankruptcy No. 11-79946-MHM; Adversary No. 11-5721
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 481 B.R. 824 (Fisher v. Santry (In re Santry)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fisher v. Santry (In re Santry), 481 B.R. 824 (Ga. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT

MARGARET H. MURPHY, Bankruptcy Judge.

This adversary proceeding is before the Court on Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment, seeking a determination that a debt owed to Plaintiff by Debtor is not dischargeable. Plaintiff states in her Motion that her claim against Debtor represents credit card debt incurred during the marriage by Debtor in Plaintiffs name. Plaintiff argues that this debt is a domestic support obligation, 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(5); a debt incurred in the course of a divorce, 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(15); or a debt for willful and malicious injury, 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6). Plaintiff also argues that the preclusive effect of an earlier bankruptcy proceeding in the Southern District of New York precludes relitigation of these issues. Plaintiff seeks recovery of her litigation expenses, and asks that the trustee in the current bankruptcy proceedings be ordered to transfer property to her. For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs Motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. STATEMENT OF FACTS

Plaintiff and Debtor were granted a divorce April 23, 2007, following a brief and “chaotic” marriage. The Judgment of Divorce Nisi (“Divorce Decree”), issued by the Massachusetts family court, required that Debtor sell or refinance real property located on Mary Beth Santry Road, Windsor, Maine, (“the Maine Property”) within sixty days of the order, and that he “pay to [Plaintiff] the sum of ... $200,000, to be applied to the debt he incurred during the course of the marriage for which [Plaintiff] is now being held responsible.” The Divorce Decree also provided that “[Debtor] shall retain all his right, title and interest in [the Maine Property]”.

Four months later, August 23, 2007, Debtor filed a voluntary Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition in the Southern District of New York (“the New York Proceeding”). On October 22, 2007, Plaintiff filed a proof of claim in the New York Proceeding for $200,000. She claimed that this debt had priority as a domestic support obligation. On February 11, 2008, the New York Proceeding was dismissed. Plaintiff claims that this dismissal was the result of Debt- or’s failure to provide documents.

[828]*828On October 17, 2011, Debtor filed the current voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the Northern District of Georgia. On December 2, 2011, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Relief from Stay, so that she might continue with her efforts to enforce the Divorce Decree. These efforts have been ongoing from 2007, and included actions or claims in the courts in Massachusetts, New York, and Georgia. Plaintiff, in the Motion for Relief from Stay, sought to have the automatic stay modified to proceed with a contempt hearing in the For-syth County Superior Court. Following a hearing February 1, 2012, the stay was modified to allow Plaintiff to proceed with the contempt hearing.

II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Bankruptcy Rule 7056 applies Rule 56 Fed. R. Civ. Pro. to adversary proceedings. Under Rule 56, a motion for summary judgment is granted if the moving party can show that no genuine issue of material fact exists, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The moving party bears the initial burden of showing, by reference to materials on file, the absence of any genuine factual dispute. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc., 929 F.2d 604, 608 (11th Cir.1991). A dispute is genuine if a verdict could reasonably be returned in favor of the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Every factual inference is drawn in favor of the non-moving party. Id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

The doctrine of res judicata “protects [a party’s] adversaries from the expense and vexation attending multiple lawsuits, conserves judicial resources, and fosters reliance on judicial action by minimizing the possibility of inconsistent decisions.” Ragsdale v. Rubbermaid, Inc., 193 F.3d 1235, 1238 (11th Cir.1999). The law of preclusion contains two separate bars to subsequent litigation. Brown v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 611 F.3d 1324, 1331-32 (11th Cir.2010). Claim preclusion (or res judicata) bars litigation arising from the same cause of action. Id. at 1332. To preclude relitigation, a party must show: (1) a prior decision rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction; (2) a final judgment on the merits; and (3) the prior litigation and current litigation involve the same parties or their privies. In re Piper Aircraft, 244 F.3d 1289, 1296 (11th Cir.2001). The doctrine of issue preclusion, also known as collateral estoppel, prevents relitigation of issues that have already been decided in an earlier lawsuit. Brown, 611 F.3d at 1332-33. Federal law applies issue preclusion where: (1) the issue at stake is identical to the one decided in the prior action; (2) the issue has been actually litigated in the prior proceeding; (3) the prior determination of the issue was actually necessary for resolution of the case; (4) the standard of proof in the newer action is not significantly more stringent than in the earlier. America Online, Inc. v. Uhrig, 306 B.R. 687, 697 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.2004) (citing Bush v. Balfour Beatty Bahamas, Ltd., 62 F.3d 1319, 1322 (11th Cir.1995)).

A debt is nondischargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6) if it is a debt for willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or its property. Kawaauhau v. Geiger, 523 U.S. 57, 61, 118 S.Ct. 974, 140 L.Ed.2d 90 (1998). Willful injury requires “an intentional act, the purpose of which is to cause injury or which is substantially certain to cause injury.” Id.; Maxfield v. Jennings, 670 F.3d 1329, 1334 (11th Cir.2012). Section 523(a)(6) is analogous in formulation to an intentional tort. Kawaauhau, 523 U.S. at [829]*82961, 118 S.Ct. 974. Thus the “consequences of an act” and not simply “the act itself’ must be intended. Id. at 61-62, 118 S.Ct. 974. An initial, intentional act which happens to cause injury, neither desired not anticipated by the debtor, does not fall within § 523(a)(6). Id. Malicious means “wrongful and without just cause or excessive even in the absence of personal hatred, spite or ill-will.” Jennings, 670 F.3d at 1334 (citing Hope v. Walker,

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Bluebook (online)
481 B.R. 824, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fisher-v-santry-in-re-santry-ganb-2012.