In re Hurt

542 B.R. 798, 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 4397, 2015 WL 9592064
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Tennessee
DecidedDecember 31, 2015
DocketCase No: 1:15-bk-12294-SDR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 542 B.R. 798 (In re Hurt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Hurt, 542 B.R. 798, 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 4397, 2015 WL 9592064 (Tenn. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

Shelley D. Rucker, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE

The trustee has filed an objection to an exemption claimed by Debtor Tara Jo Hurt in the funds on deposit in a SunTrust account and a motion for the turnover of those funds under 11 U.S.C. § 542. The basis of the Trustee’s objection to the exemption is threefold. First, he argues that because Mrs. Hurt obtained the funds by a transfer from her husband which was allegedly a fraud on his creditors, the transfer may be recovered under §§ 548 and 551. Second, the Trustee contends that the Tennessee personal property exemption statute does not allow an item obtained by defrauding another to be exempted. T.C.A. § 26-2-103(b). Finally, the Trustee contends that Mrs. Hurt’s claim of exemption was fraudulently asserted and that he may object to the claim under Fed. R. Bank. P. 4003(b)(2). If the objection is sustained, then the Trustee seeks to have the funds turned over to the estate for the benefit of the creditors of Mrs. Hurt’s estate. 11 U.S.C. § 542(a). The debtors respond that they did not intend to make a fraudulent transfer and, at most, they were engaged in exemption planning. The debtors further contend that they disclosed the exempted property and there is no issue of fraudulent concealment.

These are the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7052. This court has jurisdiction over this matter under 11 U.S.C. §§ 1334 and 157(b)(2)(B).

I. Facts

Section 522 requires the debtor to file a list of property that the debtor claims as exempt from property of the estate. “Un[800]*800less a party in interest objects, the property on such list is exempt.” 11 U.S.C. § 522(1). Unless the case is dismissed, property exempted under this section is not liable during or after the case for any debt of the debtor that arose before the commencement of the case with certain limited exceptions which do not apply here. 11 U.S.C. § 522(c).

Specifically, the Trustee objects to Mrs. Hurt’s exemption of $7,730.63 in funds in a bank account at SunTrust Bank which was opened three days before she filed this bankruptcy case with her husband Troy Hurt. The funds in this account are directly traceable to the proceeds of a sale of real property which Mr. Hurt and his brother inherited from their mother in 2012. The house was slow to sell, but a sale was finally closed on May 27, 2015. Mr. and Mrs. Hurt took the check for the proceeds of $15,461.26 (Tr. Ex 5), which was payable only to Mr. Hurt, and opened two accounts at SunTrust on May 27, 2015. (Tr. Ex. 3 and 4, Account Statements from SunTrust Bank.) One account was in Mrs. Hurt’s name and the other was in Mr. Hurt’s name. Neither was a signatory on the other’s account, and the accounts did not allow the parties to transfer funds between the accounts.

Mr. and Mrs. Hurt had previously had two accounts at a credit union. They each believed that these accounts were in their individual names, but the accounts were set up in such a way that each of them could transfer funds to the other’s account. Despite the Hurt’s belief that the credit union accounts were only in one name, the credit union statement admitted at trial showed both names on the statement. (Trial Ex. 3, DuPont Credit Union Statement for June 2015.) The failure to set up the new accounts in the same manner was an oversight based on Mr. Hurt’s testimony.

On May 30, 2015, the Hurts filed for relief under Chapter 7. Mr. Hurt testified that they had been experiencing financial problems for a long time and had sought bankruptcy counsel some months before they filed. Tennessee provides no exemption for real property owned by a debtor which is not his residence, but it does allow a $10,000 personal property exemption. T.C.A. §§ 26-2-103(a) and 26-6-101. Mr. Hurt admitted that they waited until the real property had been sold to file bankruptcy although he did not recall any specific discussions with his bankruptcy counsel about exemptions or how to maximize them. Mrs. Hurt recalled only that they discussed exemptions. In the initial bankruptcy filing, each debtor claimed personal property exemptions in the newly opened SunTrust accounts on their Schedule C under T.C.A. § 26-2-103.

The Trustee inquired about the Sun-Trust accounts at the meeting of creditors which was concluded on June 30, 2015. He discovered the details of the real property sale and the source of the funds in the two accounts which were listed on Schedule C as being owned jointly. The debtors explained the inheritance and the sale by Mr. Hurt’s brother as the executor for the estate. The Trustee timely filed an objection to Mrs. Hurt’s claim of an exemption in the account on July 20, 2015. Fed. R. Bankr.P. 4003(b)(1).

II. Analysis

A. The Basis to Object to Exemptions under Section 522

With respect to the first basis to disallow the claim, the Trustee contends that Mr. Hurt deliberately transferred $7,730.63 of the proceeds of his property to his wife by creating a separate account for her. She claimed these funds as exempt. At the same time Mr. Hurt created an account for himself which he claimed as exempt and to which the Trustee has not [801]*801objected. The Trustee contends that Mrs. Hurt’s account was created to allow Mrs. Hurt to claim an exemption to which she would not otherwise have been entitled. The conversion of the real property to personal property converted a non-exempt asset into a partially exempt asset in the hands of Mr. Hurt. It was only partially exempt because the total of the sale proceeds exceeded the $10,000 Tennessee personal property exemption. His subsequent transfer to his wife resulted in all of the personal property falling within their combined personal property exemption limits so that none of it was available to either spouse’s creditors. The Trustee contends that this series of transfers resulted in a fraudulent transfer and that Mrs. Hurt should not be allowed to retain the funds as exempt.

There was no evidence that any creditor was seeking a judgment or trying to execute on the real property at the time these transfers were being made, nor was there any evidence of representations made by the debtors to any creditors about the availability of the property to pay those creditors their debts. The sale was disclosed in Schedule B, and the exemptions were claimed in Schedule C. The debtors were candid and forthcoming at the first meeting of creditors about the transaction. (Tr. Ex. 2 pp. 1-3 and 5-7, Transcript of 341 meeting of creditors.)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
542 B.R. 798, 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 4397, 2015 WL 9592064, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-hurt-tneb-2015.