Matter of Tworek

107 B.R. 666, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 2012, 1989 WL 141361
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Nebraska
DecidedNovember 6, 1989
Docket19-80211
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 107 B.R. 666 (Matter of Tworek) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Nebraska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matter of Tworek, 107 B.R. 666, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 2012, 1989 WL 141361 (Neb. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

JOHN C. MINAHAN, Jr., Bankruptcy Judge.

In this Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, the trustee claims that an inheritance received by the debtor during the pendency of a predecessor Chapter 13 case is property of the Chapter 7 estate. I conclude that the inheritance is property of the Chapter 7 estate.

FACTS

The facts are not disputed. On June 14, 1984, the debtor filed a petition for relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. On January 27, 1988, the debtor received an inheritance of certain property. On June 8, 1989, the case was converted from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 on request of the debtor. The Chapter 7 trustee has claimed an interest in the inheritance, arguing that it constitutes property of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy estate. The debtor, Leonard A. Tworek filed a Motion to Determine Interest of the Trustee (Fil. # 47). The debtor asserts that the inheritance does not constitute property of the Chapter 7 estate and that the trustee has no interest' therein.

Specifically, the debtor argues that under 11 U.S.C. § 348(a), the conversion of a case from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 "does not effect a change in the date of the filing of the petition, the commencement of the case, or the order for relief.” Under § 541(a)(5), property of the estate includes only:

[a]ny interest in property that would have been property of the estate if such interest had been an interest of the debt- or on the date of the filing of the petition, and that the debtor acquires or becomes entitled to acquire within 180 days after such date ... by bequest, devise, or inheritance.

The debtor asserts that since he became entitled to the inheritance more than 180 days after the filing of the Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, the inheritance did not become property of the Chapter 13 bankruptcy estate and the inheritance does not constitute property of the successor Chapter 7 bankruptcy estate.

DISCUSSION

I conclude that the inheritance was property of the Chapter 13 estate and became property of the Chapter 7 estate upon conversion to the Chapter 7 case.

The scope of property to be included in a Chapter 13 estate is expanded beyond that property included in an estate under § 541. Under 11 U.S.C. § 1306,

[pjroperty of the estate includes, in addition to the property specified in § 541 ... all property of the kind specified in such section that the debtor acquires after the commencement of the case but *667 before the case is closed, dismissed, or converted....

Property of the Chapter 13 estate includes “virtually all property acquired by a Chapter 13 debtor after commencement of the case but before conversion.” Koch v. Myrvold (In re Myrvold), 44 B.R. 202, 204 (Bkrtcy.D.Minn.1984), aff'd, 784 F.2d 862 (8th Cir.1986). Thus, debtor’s inheritance was property of debtor’s Chapter 13 estate. Cf. Matter of Brownlee, 93 B.R. 662, 667 (Bkrtcy.S.D.Ia.1988) (holding that property inherited by the debtor after filing a Chapter 12, but before conversion to a Chapter 7 was property of the Chapter 7 estate). The fact that debtor received the inheritance during the pendency of the Chapter 13 after 180 days from the date debtor’s petition was filed does not change this result. See § 1306; Education Assistance Corp. v. Zellner, 827 F.2d 1222 (8th Cir.1987) (“Chapter 13 adopts the Chapter 5 definition in 11 U.S.C. § 541, but also includes property acquired during the pendency of the Chapter 13 case.”); In re Euerle, 70 B.R. 72 (Bkrtcy.D.N.H.1987); Matter of Brownlee, 93 B.R. at 667.

Further, I conclude that the inheritance became property of debtor’s Chapter 7 estate upon conversion to the Chapter 7 case. In holding that the date of conversion of a Chapter 13 case to a Chapter 7 determines the exemptions that may be claimed by a debtor, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals discussed the property included in a Chapter 7 estate after conversion from a Chapter 13. See Armstrong v. Lindberg (In re Lindberg), 735 F.2d 1087 (8th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1073, 105 S.Ct. 566, 83 L.Ed.2d 507. The eighth circuit stated that:

an examination of what constitutes the property of the estate in a converted case leads us to conclude that the date of conversion controls what exemptions may be claimed from that property. The bankruptcy courts are in general agreement that in a case converted from chapter 13 to chapter 7, the property of the estate consists of all property in which the debtor has a interest on the date of conversion. See In re Tracy, 28 B.R. 189 (Bkrtcy.D.Me.1983); In re Stinson, 27 B.R. 18 (Bkrtcy.D.Or.1982); In re Richardson, 20 B.R. 490 (Bkrtcy.W.D.N.Y.1982). We believe that the same date must control in determining what exemptions the debtor may claim from the estate. Only if the same date controls what is property of the estate and what exemptions may be claimed can the debt- or may make full use of exemption laws.

Id. at 1090.

Based on the ruling in Lindberg, I conclude that property of the instant Chapter 7 bankruptcy case includes all property which was acquired by the debtor during the pendency of the predecessor Chapter 13 case. As such property includes the inherited assets, the inheritance constitutes property of this Chapter 7 case and the trustee has an interest therein.

My decision that debtor’s inheritance was property of his Chapter 13 estate and is property of his Chapter 7 estate is not inconsistent with decisions holding that property received by a debtor after confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan does not constitute property of the Chapter 13 estate but becomes property of the debtor. See In re Stark, 8 B.R. 233 (Bkrtcy.N.D.Ohio 1981); In re Mason, 45 B.R. 498 (Bkrtcy.D.Or.1984); Laughlin v. United States Internal Revenue Service, 98 B.R. 494 (D.Neb.1989) (Urbom, J., presiding). These cases are not dispositive of the issue before the court, as property of a debtor’s Chapter 7 estate after conversion from Chapter 13 case includes both property of the Chapter 13 estate and “all property in which the debtor has an interest on the date of conversion.” Lindberg, 735 F.2d at 1090.

In concluding that debtor’s inheritance was property of his Chapter 13 estate and became property of his Chapter 7 estate, I am aware of decisions holding that 11 U.S.C. §

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
107 B.R. 666, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 2012, 1989 WL 141361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-tworek-nebraskab-1989.