Gregory Hawk v. Eva Engelhart

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit·Decided July 19, 2017·No. 16-20641·Published

Opinion

Case: 16-20641 Document: 00514080518 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/19/2017

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

No. 16-20641

FILED

July 19, 2017 Lyle W. Cayce

In the Matter of: GREGORY D. HAWK; MARCIE H. HAWK, Clerk

Debtors.

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GREGORY D. HAWK,

Appellant,

v.

EVA S. ENGELHART, Chapter 7 Trustee,

Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas

Before STEWART, Chief Judge, and WIENER and PRADO, Circuit Judges. EDWARD C. PRADO, Circuit Judge:

After filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Gregory and Marcie Hawk claimed an exemption for funds held in an individual retirement account (“IRA”). The Hawks sought to exempt the funds from the bankruptcy estate because taxexempt or tax-deferred assets held in a qualifying retirement account are generally exempt from creditors’ claims under Texas law. However, the Hawks subsequently withdrew the funds from the IRA and did not roll them over into

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another IRA. Because Texas law provides that funds withdrawn from a retirement account remain exempt only if rolled over into another retirement account within sixty days, the bankruptcy court held that the funds had lost their exempt status and ordered that the Hawks turn over the funds to the Trustee, Eva Engelhart. The district court upheld the bankruptcy court’s decision on appeal. We AFFIRM.

I. BACKGROUND

On December 15, 2013, the Hawks filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. Approximately one month later, the Hawks filed their schedules of assets, which claimed an exemption for funds held in an IRA managed by NFP Securities, Inc. The Hawks claimed that the IRA funds were exempt from creditors’ claims under Texas Property Code § 42.0021 and were therefore excluded from the property of the bankruptcy estate under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b). The meeting of creditors was held on March 28, 2014, giving the parties in interest until April 28, 2014, to object to the Hawks’ claimed exemptions. See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4003(b)(1). No party in interest objected to the IRA exemption during that time. On April 3, 2014, the Trustee filed a report declaring that the estate had no assets available for distribution to the Hawks’ creditors and proposing to abandon all nonexempt assets. In May 2014, however, one of the Hawks’ creditors, Res-TX One, timely filed an adversary proceeding objecting to the Hawks’ discharge.

Meanwhile, between December 11, 2013, and July 14, 2014, the Hawks withdrew all of the funds from the IRA and used most of those funds to pay for living and other expenses. The funds were never rolled over into another retirement account. When Res-TX One deposed Mr. Hawk in November 2014, Mr. Hawk stated that approximately $30,000 of the liquidated IRA funds remained in his possession and that the funds were being held “in a shoebox.” The Trustee first learned about the liquidated IRA funds from Mr. Hawk’s

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deposition and subsequently demanded that the Hawks give the funds to the estate. After the Hawks refused to do so, the Trustee filed a motion with the bankruptcy court seeking to compel the Hawks to turn over the funds.

The bankruptcy court held an evidentiary hearing and then ordered the Hawks to turn over the funds that were withdrawn from the IRA ($133,434.64 in total). The bankruptcy court concluded that the funds “lost their exempt status” under Texas law because the Hawks “did not roll them over to another individual retirement account within 60 days.” The Hawks appealed to the district court, which affirmed the bankruptcy court’s decision. This appeal followed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

As a “second review court,” “[o]ur review is properly focused on the actions of the bankruptcy court.” In re Age Ref., Inc., 801 F.3d 530, 538 (5th Cir. 2015) (quoting In re T-H New Orleans Ltd. P’ship, 116 F.3d 790, 796 (5th Cir. 1997)). “We apply the same standard of review to the bankruptcy court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law as applied by the district court.” In re Pratt, 524 F.3d 580, 584 (5th Cir. 2008). “Determination whether an exemption from the bankruptcy estate exists is a question of law, which we review de novo.” In re Zibman, 268 F.3d 298, 301 (5th Cir. 2001). “Although we may ‘benefit from the district court’s analysis of the issues presented, the amount of persuasive weight, if any, to be accorded the district court’s conclusions is entirely subject to our discretion.’” In re Age Ref., 801 F.3d at 538 (quoting In re CPDC, Inc., 337 F.3d 436, 441 (5th Cir. 2003)).

III. DISCUSSION

Under 11 U.S.C. § 541(a), the commencement of a bankruptcy case—

whether under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code—creates a bankruptcy estate comprising, among other things, “all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the commencement of the case.” The

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debtor may then remove certain types of property from the estate by electing to take advantage of either the exemptions described in federal law or those described in state law. 11 U.S.C. § 522(b). To claim these exemptions, the debtor must file a list of property claimed as exempt on the schedule of assets. 11 U.S.C. § 522(l); Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4003(a). A party in interest may then “file an objection to the list of property claimed as exempt within 30 days after the meeting of creditors . . . or within 30 days after any amendment to the list or supplemental schedules is filed, whichever is later.” Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4003(b)(1). “Unless a party in interest objects, the property claimed as exempt on such list is exempt.” 11 U.S.C. § 522(l). “Anything properly exempted passes through bankruptcy; the rest goes to the creditors.” Payne v. Wood, 775 F.2d 202, 204 (7th Cir. 1985).

This Court has not previously addressed whether a Texas debtor is entitled to an exemption when he or she withdraws funds from a retirement account and does not deposit the funds into another retirement account within sixty days. However, the parties agree that this Court’s case law regarding Texas homesteads is instructive. Indeed, there are clear parallels between the Texas statutes governing retirement accounts and those governing homesteads. Texas Property Code § 42.0021(a) states that “a person’s right to the assets held in . . . an individual retirement account . . . is exempt from attachment, execution, and seizure for the satisfaction of debts to the extent the . . . account is exempt from federal income tax, or to the extent federal income tax on the person’s interest is deferred until actual payment of benefits to the person.” Section 42.0021(c) then provides that amounts distributed from an exempt retirement account “are not subject to seizure for a creditor’s claim for 60 days after the date of distribution if the amounts qualify as a nontaxable rollover contribution.” Similarly, Texas Property Code § 41.001(a) indicates that a homestead is “exempt from seizure for the claims of creditors except for

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encumbrances properly fixed on homestead property.” Section 41.001(c) goes on to explain that the “proceeds of a sale of a homestead are not subject to seizure for a creditor’s claim for six months after the date of sale.”

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