Matter of Settle

14 B.R. 31, 1981 Bankr. LEXIS 4763
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Hampshire
DecidedMarch 5, 1981
Docket19-10316
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 14 B.R. 31 (Matter of Settle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matter of Settle, 14 B.R. 31, 1981 Bankr. LEXIS 4763 (N.H. 1981).

Opinion

ORDER

JOSEPH J. BETLEY, Bankruptcy Judge.

John Alden Settle, Jr. filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy on March 30, 1979. In his Statement of Affairs filed with the schedules, the Debtor in answer to question 8 of said Statement of Affairs stated as follows:

“8. Property held for another person. What property do you hold for any other person? (Give name and address of each person, and describe the property, the amount of . ■ value thereof and all writings relating thereto)
None”
In filling out Schedule B-2 — personal property of the voluntary petition, the Debtor made the following answers:
“c. Household goods, supplies and furnishings:
c. Books, pictures and other objects, stamp, coin and other collections:
d. Wearing apparel, jewelry, firearms; sports equipment and other personal possessions:
1. Inventory:
Mise, chests, bookcases, chairs, lamps, etc. at homestead - Rte. 63, Westmoreland, N. H. $1000.00
Bible, books, dictionery at homestead 400.00
Wearing apparel at homestead 2000.00 Guns (mise) at homestead 600.00
None other than personal property described.

At the hearing on December 30, 1980 at Keene, New Hampshire, Mary Thomas of Black Mountain Road, Brattleboro, Vt. testified that she rented on October 23, 1978 space on the second floor in the barn to a Willard Crayton who stated that he wanted to store his furniture. She identified John Alden Settle, Jr., the Debtor herein, who was present in the court room, as the party that gave her the name of Willard Crayton when he rented the premises in question. He brought furniture twice for storage on the second floor barn and the same was delivered to the second floor by an elevator. Mrs. Thomas testified that the Debtor had no key to this storage space and that she let him in twice; however, he did procure a lock at some point thereafter and they each had a key. Mrs. Thomas further testified that on or about February 1, 1979, she rented garage space between the big barn and her house to the said Willard Crayton for storage space. The said John Alden Settle, Jr. alias Willard Crayton had a key to the garage space. She testified that he paid rent every three months and the last time that he paid rent was on July 1, 1980 since she sold her property on August 10, 1979 to a Richard McGinn and had no more dealings with the Debtor herein or his prop *33 erty. She testified that she never saw Ann Savory Settle, never spoke to her, and never received any payments of rent from anybody else except the Debtor herein.

Christopher Loughman of 160 Edgewood Ave., Longmeadow, Mass, identified the Debtor herein as the man who together with a Mrs. Savory and her son, Reed Savory, on March 17, 1979 assisted, with his truck, and the Debtor’s Continental automobile and a U-Haul trailer to pack and move furniture, furnishings, chandeliers, etc. from a home in Westmoreland, N. H. to a garage, identified by the witness as Exhibit 1-A, Brattleboro, Vt. The witness stated that the U-Haul trailer was full and that his truck only had a few pieces of furniture on it. The witness stated that after the furniture and furnishings, etc. were unloaded at the garage in Brattleboro, Vt., the Debtor put some paper around the windows of the garage. The witness testified that Mr. Settle paid him $50.00 and paid Reed Savory $50.00 for assisting in this moving effort.

Paul Wooley, Route 63, Westmoreland, N. H. testified that he knew Mr. Settle for three or four years when Mr. Settle lived in Westmoreland. He testified that in the fall of 1978, for two or three days, he assisted in moving furniture, etc. from Mr. Settle’s home in Westmoreland, N. H. to a barn in Brattleboro, Vermont — second floor — in a big box Ryder truck. Mr. Wooley testified that they moved paintings, glasswear, a large oak table, hutch, grandfather clock etc. and that at all times the truck was full. Mr. Wooley testified that the Debtor herein stated that he was hiding this furniture from his wife, Cynthia Myers. Mr. Wooley further testified that he did not move any rugs; however, he stated that he saw two rolls of Oriental rugs in Mr. Settle’s Continental car all rolled up. He stated that after he finished helping in the moving, everything was gone from the first floor of the Westmoreland house, that some of the furniture went to the third floor of the Westmoreland property where Mr. Settle was staying. The witness stated that he received a check for $88.00 and that as far as he could remember, it was John Settle’s check. The personal property located in the barn and garage at Brattleboro, Vermont (Exhibit 1-A, 1-B and 1-C) were removed by the Trustee to Bolster’s Warehouse, Brattleboro, Vermont and were appraised by Paul W. Lawton, Chesterfield, N. H. on September 20, 1979 in the amount of $33,-637.00. (Trustee’s Exhibit 20).

George B. Lattimore of 204 Elm St., Keene, N. H., formerly a Photographer for the Union Leader and also a private photographer, testified that in early 1978, he got acquainted with John Alden Settle, Jr. and at various times, took photographs in color of the various rooms, furniture, furnishings, portraits, etc. at the Westmore-land home of Mr. and Mrs. Settle. The witness stated that there was a “fascinating library” and “oriental rugs galore.” Trustee’s Exhibit 12 discloses the Persian rug in the living room in full color. Trustee’s Exhibit 14 consists of 84 slides taken by Mr. Lattimore of the interior and exterior of the Westmoreland house. The witness testified that the last time he saw the Persian rug in the living room in full color was sometime in the fall of 1978 when Mr. Settle was served with divorce papers by Cynthia Myer. The witness testified that in July 1979, he had a conversation with Mr. Settle concerning Trustee’s Exhibit 12 (Persian rug), which the witness said that Mr. Settle wanted a copy of this rug in full color. The witness testified that Mr. Settle told him “that he was selling the rug to Ann Savory and wanted to document it.” The witness testified that sometime in August 1979, Mr. Settle wanted another picture of this Persian rug and he stated he wanted this picture “so he could attach it to a bill of sale.” The witness stated that on July 31, 1979, Mr. Settle picked up the picture and stated that he sold the Persian rug to Ann Savory Settle, who was in the car with him.

Mrs. Ann Savory, now Settle testified that she purchased the Persian rug from John Settle before she was married to him; however, she stated that she did not remember the amount that she paid for the rug or where she got the money.

*34 Trustee’s Exhibit 21 describes inventory of furniture, pictures, mirrors, tables, floor lamps, desks, chairs, headboards, etc. consisting of 11 pages which were stored by John Settle and Ann Savory on August 7, 1979 at Hallmark Van Lines, Inc., 6 South Park Place, Holyoke, Mass.

Trustee’s Exhibit 19 describes 5 guns and miscellaneous ammunition in possession of Longmeadow, Mass. Police Department as property of John Settle and which were appraised by Philip Castleman of Castle Arms, Longmeadow, Mass, on August 30, 1979 at $920.00.

Kevin A.

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Related

Warfield v. Nance
D. Arizona, 2024
In re Settle
42 B.R. 271 (D. New Hampshire, 1984)
In Re Hanson
41 B.R. 775 (D. North Dakota, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
14 B.R. 31, 1981 Bankr. LEXIS 4763, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-settle-nhb-1981.