Shankle v. Shankle (In re Shankle)

476 B.R. 908
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedMarch 30, 2012
DocketBankruptcy No. 05-16971-DWH; Adversary No. 05-01295-DWH
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 476 B.R. 908 (Shankle v. Shankle (In re Shankle)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shankle v. Shankle (In re Shankle), 476 B.R. 908 (Miss. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

DAVID W. HOUSTON, III, Bankruptcy Judge.

On consideration before the court is a complaint filed by Dianne Shankle, (“plaintiff’), against the debtor, Michael Vernon Shankle, (“defendant”), seeking to deny the dischargeability of certain marital obligations that were judicially established in a divorce decree when the plaintiff and the defendant were divorced in Benton County, Arkansas; an answer and affirmative defenses having been filed by the defendant; and the court, having heard and considered same, hereby finds as follows, to-wit:

I.

The court has jurisdiction of the parties to and the subject matter of this proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1334 and 28 U.S.C. § 157. This is a core adversary proceeding as defined in 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(I).

II.

In the pretrial order, the plaintiff and the defendant stipulated to the following facts:

1. Debtor Michael Vernon Shankle was ordered to pay alimony and child support to Dianne Shankle and to divide certain accounts which were marital property pursuant to a Decree of Divorce entered by the Chancery Court of Benton County, Arkansas on August 25, 1999, and subsequent Orders of modification.
2. By Order entered September 13, 2000, Debtor Michael Vernon Shan-kle was ordered to pay alimony arrearage, attorney’s fees, court costs and medical bills to Dianne Shankle and to divide certain accounts which were marital property-
3. By Order entered August 7, 2001, Debtor Michael Vernon Shankle was again ordered to pay alimony arrearage, attorney’s fees, court costs and medical bills to Dianne Shankle, to pay child support ar-rearages and to reimburse Dianne Shankle for costs to provide the child’s medical and dental insurances, and to divide certain accounts which were marital property.
4. By Order entered August 8, 2002, Debtor Michael Vernon Shankle was again held in contempt and ordered to pay child support, alimony, fees and costs, and divide marital property.
5. By Order entered December 20, 2002, Debtor Michael Vernon Shan-kle was ordered to pay additional legal fees to Dianne Shankle.
6. By Order entered July 5, 2005, Debtor Michael Vernon Shankle was ordered to pay past due child support and alimony and to pay towards the medical expenses of the parties’ minor child.
[910]*9107. True and correct copies of the above mentioned Decree of Divorce and Orders were attached to the Adversary Complaint.
8. The above mentioned Decree of Divorce and Orders constitute public records pursuant to the Federal Rules of Evidence.
9. Debtor Michael Vernon Shankle was found guilty of “Nonsupport,” a Class A Misdemeanor, in the Circuit Court of Benton County, Arkansas.
10. A true and correct copy of the Order finding the Debtor Michael Vernon Shankle guilty of “Nonsupport,” a Class A Misdemeanor, in the Circuit Court of Benton County, Arkansas was attached as an exhibit to Requests for Admission.
11. The above mentioned Order finding the Debtor Michael Vernon Shan-kle guilty of “Nonsupport,” a Class A Misdemeanor, constitutes a public record pursuant to the Federal Rules of Evidence.
12. A true and correct copy of the Conditions of Suspension or Probation signed by the Debtor Michael Vernon Shankle and filed of record in the Circuit Court of Benton County, Arkansas constitutes a public record pursuant to the Federal Rules of Evidence.
13. By Order and Judgment filed July 26, 2006 in the Circuit Court of Benton County, Arkansas, the parties stipulated that Debtor Michael Vernon Shankle was liable to Dianne Shankle for the following amounts: Child Support— $11,785.32; Alimony — $21,593.31; Insurance Premiums for the Children — $7,458.30; Medical Bills and Copays for the Children— $6,206.95; Medications for the Children — $603.02; Attorney’s Fees (with interest) — $2,928.20; and Marital Property awarded by Decree of Divorce — $97,435.91.
14.That Debtor Michael Shankle has listed in his Schedule F (Creditors holding Unsecured Nonpriority Claims), a “disputed” debt of $141,000.00 owed to Dianne Shan-kle, his ex-wife.

In addition, the parties, prior to trial, stipulated that the following obligations owed by the defendant are non-dischargea-ble debts pursuant to § 523(a)(5) of the Bankruptcy Code, to-wit:

Child support, alimony, insurance premiums for the children, dental insurance premiums for the children, medical bills and co-pays for the children, medications for the children, and attorney’s fees with interest.

As a result of the most recent stipulation, this adversary proceeding has narrowed to a determination of whether the obligation set forth in paragraph 11 in the parties’ Decree of Divorce is a non-dis-chargeable debt. That paragraph reads as follows:

“11. The Court finds the following items of personal property are marital property, and shall be equally divided between the parties: Idex Mutual Fund with an approximate balance of $80,000.00; Baker-Hughes Stock in the approximate amount of $4,000.00; Inves-co Mutual Fund with an approximate balance of $100,000.00.”

III.

In her complaint, the plaintiff bases her claims for non-dischargeability on § 523(a)(5), § 523(a)(6), and § 528(a)(15) of [911]*911the Bankruptcy Code1. These sections are set forth as follows:

11 U.S.C. § 523. Exceptions to discharge
(a) A discharge under section 727, 1141, 1228(a), 1228(b), or 1328(b) of this title does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt—
(5) to a spouse, former spouse, or child of the debtor, for alimony to, maintenance for, or support of such spouse or child, in connection with a separation agreement, divorce decree or other order of a court of record, determination made in accordance with State or territorial law by a governmental unit, or property settlement agreement, but not to the extent that—
(A) such debt is assigned to another entity, voluntarily, by operation of law, or otherwise (other than debts assigned pursuant to section 408(a)(3) of the Social Security Act, or any such debt which has been assigned to the Federal Government or to a State or any political subdivision of such State); or

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
476 B.R. 908, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shankle-v-shankle-in-re-shankle-msnb-2012.