In Re: Kenneth W. Stine, Debtor, Kenneth W. Stine v. Nationsbank

360 F.3d 455, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 4822, 2004 WL 491252

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: March 15, 2004
• Docket: 00-2352
• Status: Published

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

The order of the district court appealed from is described in Bank of America N.A. (USA) v. Stine, 252 B.R. 902 (D.Md.2000), and the case was referred by us to the Court of Appeals of Maryland, which certification order is under the style of: In re: Stine//Kenneth W. Stine v. NationsBank, No. 00-2352 (4th Cir.2001).

The Court of Appeals of Maryland answered our question and filed its opinion under the style of: Bank of America, f/k/a NationsBank v. Kenneth W. Stine, 379 Md. 76, 839 A.2d 727 (2003).

The question we certified to the Court of Appeals of Maryland is quoted in the opinion of that court, 839 A.2d at 731, as follows:

[w]hether a debtor in bankruptcy may claim as exempt from the bankruptcy estate, pursuant to Maryland Code, Annotated, Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 11-504 (1998) wages previously garnished by a judgment creditor pursuant to Maryland Code Annotated, Commercial Law II §§ 15-601-607 (2000), when the garnishment is avoided as a preferential transfer.

The Court of Appeals of Maryland answered that question “in the affirmative.” 839 A.2d at 740.

The order of the district court appealed from is accordingly affirmed on the opinion of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, which we adopt as our own.

AFFIRMED