In re Murin

283 B.R. 588, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 1029, 2002 WL 31105100
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Arizona
DecidedSeptember 17, 2002
DocketNo. 01-01506-BHC-RJH
StatusPublished

This text of 283 B.R. 588 (In re Murin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Murin, 283 B.R. 588, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 1029, 2002 WL 31105100 (Ark. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

RANDOLPH J. HAINES, Bankruptcy Judge.

Tim Monahan (“Monahan”) objects to confirmation of Edward Murin’s (“Murin”) proposed Chapter 13 plan and requests the Court deny confirmation and either convert to Chapter 7 or dismiss the case with prejudice with a 180 day bar against the refiling of any other bankruptcy petition pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 109(g).1

For the reasons stated below, the Court concludes that real property held by husband and wife in joint tenancy with right of survivorship is separate property and not community property under Arizona law. Consequently a deed of trust granted by one spouse, not joined by the other spouse, may be effective to impose a hen on that spouse’s entire interest after a divorce. Because Murin’s plan fails to treat Monahan’s claim as a secured claim, confirmation must be denied.

Background Facts

The following facts are undisputed.

Monahan and Murin entered a joint venture/partnership agreement to purchase some real property. Monahan financed the project and advanced over $50,000 towards the purchase and construction of improvements. Murin was to manage the project and perform most of the construction work. Instead of using Monahan’s funds for property improvements, however, Murin embezzled and diverted the funds for his own personal use and to pay living expenses. As a result, there were no funds available to make the mortgage payments and the property was lost in foreclosure.

Murin wrote Monahan a letter acknowledging his debt and agreeing to fully reimburse him. From this agreement, a promissory note and deed of trust were created to provide security for the repayment of the debt. The collateral securing the debt under the deed of trust was Murin’s interest in his residence. Murin signed both documents, but his wife (“Mrs. Murin”) refused to sign them because she and Mu-rin were in the process of a divorce.

Murin and his wife had purchased their house as joint tenants with right of surviv-orship along with a third party, Frank Murin, in September of 1995. The joint tenancy deed language specifically states the house was conveyed to “Frank A. Mu-rin, a widower, Edward F. Murin and Kathy Murin, husband and wife not as tenants in common and not as a community property estate, but as joint tenants with right of survivorship.” All three parties signed an Acceptance of Joint Tenancy (Deed) affirming their intention to accept the conveyance as joint tenants with right of survivorship.

Murin defaulted on his note to Monahan, and Monahan initiated a trustee’s sale of Murin’s house. Before Murin’s house could be sold, he filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition which stayed the trustee’s sale.2

[590]*590Some time after Murin’s note and deed of trust were executed, and prior to this case, Mr. and Mrs. Murin got divorced. Apparently Murin wound up with the house in the divorce, but the record does not reflect what interest he obtained or how and when he obtained it.

Parties’ Arguments

Murin argues that Monahan’s claim is unsecured and that the lien did not attach to Murin’s home pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes § 33-452 because Mrs. Mu-rin did not sign the deed of trust. “A conveyance or incumbrance of community property is not valid unless executed and acknowledged by both husband and wife .... ” Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) § 33-452 (West 2000). Monahan responds that any defect in Murin’s deed of trust was later cured, when he became divorced, by the doctrine of after-acquired title, pursuant to A.R.S. § 33-703(B). That statute provides: “Title acquired by the mortgagor subsequent to the execution of the mortgage inures to the mortgagee as security as if acquired before the execution.”3 Murin replies that an early Arizona Supreme Court opinion held that “a contract made by one spouse which attempts to incumber community realty, where the other party to the contract knows of the marriage, and that the property affected by the contract was acquired during cover-ture, is void and not merely suspended .... ” Rundle v. Winters, 38 Ariz. 239, 298 P. 929, 933 (1931). Murin agues that Run-dle should apply in this case to invalidate Monahan’s deed of trust, but Monahan argues that Rundle is distinguishable because it applies only to community property, not to property held in joint tenancy. Murin responds that the existence of a joint tenancy deed does not mean the house was not held as community property and subject to the doctrine of Rundle.

Legal Analysis

This case raises two issues: first, whether real property taken by husband and wife as joint tenants with right of survivor-ship is community property under Arizona law; and second, whether the doctrine of Rundle extends to property taken by husband and wife as joint tenants.

Murin admits that a joint tenancy deed was created and accepted, but argues that it does not mean the house was not held as community property. Although the assumption under Arizona law is that all property acquired by either spouse during marriage is community property, the presumption can be rebutted with clear and convincing evidence. A.R.S. § 25-211; Bender v. Bender, 123 Ariz. 90, 597 P.2d 993, 996 (Ct.App.1979). “This presumption can be overcome by evidence that the parties agreed to hold the property as joint tenants, such as a deed showing that the spouses took title to property as joint tenants.” Hanf v. Summers (In re Summers), 278 B.R. 808, 811 (9th Cir. BAP 2002). “The right of husband and wife to hold property as joint tenants in derogation of our community property statutes has been recognized by this court provided it clearly appears the spouses have agreed that the property should be taken in that manner.” Collier v. Collier, 73 Ariz. 405, 242 P.2d 537, 540 (1952).

In Summers, the husband and wife purchased real property and took title as joint tenants along with a their adult daughter. Summers, 278 B.R. at 810. All three parties were named individually on the deed as joint tenants and all three [591]*591signed as accepting the interest as joint tenants. Id. Those facts are nearly identical to Murin’s situation: Murin and his wife took title as joint tenants with a third party relative; all three were individually listed on the deed as joint tenants; and all three signed the deed accepting the property as joint tenants. The Summers court recognized that spouses may acquire property as joints tenants, not as community property (regardless of any additional third party joint tenants), and affirmed the bankruptcy court’s holding that the property is a joint tenancy property. Id. at 814. “[Wjhen a husband and wife with community funds take title to property as joint tenants, the form of conveyance destroys the presumption that the property is community and that, consequently, the joint tenancy stands as such, the interest of each spouse being separate property ....” Id. at 811 (quoting 15A Am.Jur. 2D Community Property

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Related

Local Loan Co. v. Hunt
292 U.S. 234 (Supreme Court, 1934)
Collier v. Collier
242 P.2d 537 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1952)
Bender v. Bender
597 P.2d 993 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1979)
Hanf v. Summers (In Re Summers)
278 B.R. 808 (Ninth Circuit, 2002)
Rundle v. Winters
298 P. 929 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1931)
Jenkins v. Huntsinger
125 P.2d 327 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1942)
Gough v. Center
106 P. 774 (Washington Supreme Court, 1910)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
283 B.R. 588, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 1029, 2002 WL 31105100, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-murin-arb-2002.