Pitrat v. Unkefer (In re Unkefer)

44 B.R. 55, 11 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 949, 1984 Bankr. LEXIS 4759
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Arizona
DecidedOctober 23, 1984
DocketNo. B-83-367-PHX-RGM; Adv. No. 84-75-RGM
StatusPublished

This text of 44 B.R. 55 (Pitrat v. Unkefer (In re Unkefer)) 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
Pitrat v. Unkefer (In re Unkefer), 44 B.R. 55, 11 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 949, 1984 Bankr. LEXIS 4759 (Ark. 1984).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING JUDY UNKEPER’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE: CLAIM OF $50,000 HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION

ROGER G. MOOREMAN, Bankruptcy Judge.

Sherman Unkefer, III and Judy Unkefer, husband and wife, were named as debtors in an involuntary Chapter 7 petition that was filed on February 7, 1983. These debtors subsequently dissolved their marriage, and now each has claimed a $50,000 homestead exemption pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 522(b) and A.R.S. § 33-1101, et seq. The homestead property was sold in court, and in excess of $50,000 in equity above existing encumbrances was realized upon the sale. Pursuant to a stipulation among the Unkefers and the Trustee, the court authorized the distribution of $25,000 to each of the Unkefers from the sale proceeds.

Judy Unkefer has moved for summary judgment on the issue of her entitlement to an additional $25,000 distribution from the sale proceeds. In other words, she contends that she is entitled to exempt a $50,-000 homestead independently of the exemption claimed by her former husband. Both the Chapter 7 Trustee and creditor, Harry V. Eastlick, as Trustee of North American Coin & Currency, Ltd., No. B-82-2549PHX-RGM, have opposed Judy Unkefer’s motion.

Congress provided a schedule of exempt property available to debtors, but it also decided that the states could elect to define the exemptions themselves. 11 U.S.C. §§ 522(a), 522(b) and 522(d). Arizona has chosen to have state law determine the exemptions available to debtors. A.R.S. § 33-1133(B). Debtors may only take those exemptions that were available under state law on the date the petition in bankruptcy was filed. In re Cameron, 25 B.R. 119, 120 (Bankr.N.D.Ohio 1982).

At the time the petition in this case was filed, A.R.S. § 33-1101(C) stated that “[o]nly one homestead may be claimed by a married couple or a single person under the [57]*57provisions of this section. 1 Judy Unkefer contends that this attempt to allow different exemptions to single and married persons is preempted by 11 U.S.C. § 522(m), which states that “[t]his section [defining available exemptions] shall apply separately with respect to each debtor in a joint case.”

This court concludes that there is no conflict between the state and federal statutes and that, therefore, the Arizona homestead statute is not preempted by § 522(m). See In re Goering, 23 B.R. 1010, 1012-14 (Bankr.N.D.Ill.1982) (Preemption occurs only when construction of state and federal statutes establishes that they actually conflict.) The legislative history of § 522(m) does not suggest that the statute was intended to mandate that married and single individuals be treated identically under state exemption laws. See In re Webb, 29 B.R. 280, 282 n. 2 (Bankr.E.D.N.Y.1983). Section 522(m) is properly construed as simply requiring that each debtor in a joint case be allowed to exempt that property which an individual filing separately might exempt. See In re Brooks, 31 B.R. 302, 10 B.C.D. 1051 (Bankr.S.D.N.Y.1983).

In Arizona, if only one spouse files a bankruptcy petition, that spouse may claim the full exemption allowed to a married person under state law. If both spouses file, either separately or jointly, they may each claim the full exemption allowed to a married person, but married people are only entitled to exempt a total of $50,000 in equity between them. Section 522(m) does not require a different result. 31 B.R. at 305 and n. 1.

Unkefer argues that the Arizona homestead law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution. She contends that there is no rational basis for the disparity in the way the statute treats married and single persons.

The Arizona homestead law does not deny equal protection so long as “there is some ground of difference that rationally explains the different treatment accorded married and unmarried persons_” Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438, 92 S.Ct. 1029, 1035, 31 L.Ed.2d 349 (1972). A similar “reasonable basis” test has been articulated for judging whether or not a state’s social and economic regulations violate the Equal Protection Clause. See Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 486, 90 S.Ct. 1153, 1161, 25 L.Ed.2d 491.

This court finds that there is a rational basis underlying the Arizona legislature’s decision to allow different exemptions to single and married persons. In Matcha v. Winn, 131 Ariz. 115, 638 P.2d 1361, 1363 (Ct.App.1981), the court stated that “the fundamental purpose of the homestead law is to protect the family against the forced sale of home property from certain creditors _” In McLaws v. Kruger, 130 Ariz. 317, 636 P.2d 95 (1981) (In Division), the Arizona Supreme Court held that a debtor is not entitled to exempt the cash proceeds of his own voluntary sale of the homestead property. This is further evidence that the homestead exemption is directed primarily at helping the debtor keep his home.

It may reasonably be expected that married persons will share the same residence and that single persons will each desire a separate residence. Thus, it was not unreasonable for the Arizona legislature to allow married individuals a smaller per person exemption than single individuals. That the effective per person exemption for married individuals is less than that allowed single individuals does not deprive the state exemption scheme of its rational basis that the amount that is available is the same per residence.

The state exemption scheme does not achieve its purpose in a perfect way. When the debtors filed their petition, for example, the exemption statute in effect [58]*58expressly allowed debtors to exempt “[l]and in a compact body which the claimant designates.”2 Thus, a debtor could claim an exemption in property on which he did not reside. In 1983, the statute was redesigned so that now a debtor must reside on homestead property. A.R.S. § 33-1101(A).

In Unkefer’s case, the statute does not appear to achieve its objective because she and her former husband no longer share the same dwelling. She does not receive the full benefit the statute intended to confer on married persons, nor does she receive the full benefit afforded single persons.

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Related

Dandridge v. Williams
397 U.S. 471 (Supreme Court, 1970)
Eisenstadt v. Baird
405 U.S. 438 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo
439 U.S. 572 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Matcha v. Winn
638 P.2d 1361 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1981)
McLaws v. Kruger
636 P.2d 95 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1981)
In Re Cameron
25 B.R. 119 (N.D. Ohio, 1982)
In Re Webb
29 B.R. 280 (E.D. New York, 1983)
In Re Brooks
31 B.R. 302 (S.D. New York, 1983)
In Re Goering
23 B.R. 1010 (N.D. Illinois, 1982)

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Bluebook (online)
44 B.R. 55, 11 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 949, 1984 Bankr. LEXIS 4759, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pitrat-v-unkefer-in-re-unkefer-arb-1984.