Slover v. Slover (In Re Slover)

191 B.R. 886, 1996 Bankr. LEXIS 107, 1996 WL 48830
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 1, 1996
Docket19-80028
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 191 B.R. 886 (Slover v. Slover (In Re Slover)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Slover v. Slover (In Re Slover), 191 B.R. 886, 1996 Bankr. LEXIS 107, 1996 WL 48830 (Okla. 1996).

Opinion

ORDER DETERMINING DEBT TO BE NONDISCHARGEABLE

TOM R. CORNISH, Bankruptcy Judge.

The Court believes this to be a case of first impression in Oklahoma. What the Court must decide is whether, under the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, the Debtor has the ability to pay a Visa card debt to a nondebtor *888 spouse which arose from a divorce decree and whether the benefit to the Debtor of obtaining a discharge outweighs the detriment to the nondebtor spouse. Today, the Court holds the Debtor should pay the debt.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. This is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(I).

2. Mrs. McMurrough resides at # 27 Reservoir Heights Drive, Little Rock, Arkansas. She is 51 years old and has a B.S.E. from Henderson State University. She taught school for a few months and then worked for nine years for the State of Arkansas in child support enforcement.

3. Thereafter, she went to work in the family lumber company, Anthony Hardwood Lumber Company in Hope, Arkansas. She took care of the accounts payable and did the bookkeeping for the company. She worked there for approximately five years and left in 1985 when her youngest son graduated from high school.

4. Mrs. McMurrough moved to Little Rock and worked for Pleasant Valley Country Club doing bookkeeping part-time. She did not need to work full-time because she had a substantial inheritance and was financially secure. Her first marriage ended in divorce in 1967. In 1989, Mrs. McMurrough met and married the Debtor who was a car salesman. The parties were divorced on April 24, 1995. She worked at Pleasant Valley until the end of 1990, when she and the Debtor purchased an existing auto dealership from J.T. and Elizabeth Caplinger in England, Arkansas. All the funds were advanced by Mrs. McMurrough. She invested between $500,000.00 and $1,000,000.00 in the dealership. The Debtor operated the dealership. In February, 1992, the dealership went broke and this resulted in Slover Autoplex, Inc. filing bankruptcy in the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Both parties testified that the failure of the business was due to bad times, poor management decisions and the wrong location. After the closing of the auto dealership, Mrs. McMurrough went to work for a dentist and then went back to work for Pleasant Valley Country Club. Presently, Mrs. McMurrough is working for the State of Arkansas as a case worker in the child support division. She is paid bi-weekly and her take-home pay is approximately $538.11. She is currently on probationary status for six months, or until approximately May, 1996.

5. Mrs. McMurrough has chronic obstructive lung disease which is a form of emphysema. The disease is now in remission; however, she was hospitalized for various lengths of time in November and December, 1994.

6. Mrs. McMurrough is purchasing a condominium. Mrs. McMurrough owned this condominium prior to her marriage to the Debtor. She owes approximately $84,000.00 on the condominium and has approximately $8,000.00 equity. Mrs. McMurrough testified her gross monthly income from her salary is approximately $1,165.00. In addition, her roommate, a lady from her church, has been paying her $450.00 per month since November, 1995. Mrs. McMurrough receives a monthly dividend of approximately $110.00 from stock in a bank in Hope, Arkansas, and approximately $23.00 per month from interest on a farm note. Mrs. McMurrough owns approximately 27 percent in her family lumber company which is operated by her older sister and brother-in-law. However, she testified that in the last three years she has received no income from the company. Additionally, Mrs. McMurrough owns approximately 27 percent in a farm; however, again, she receives no income from the farm, other than the interest on the note payable to her. Mrs. McMurrough testified that the farm owes her approximately $5,000.00 and she believes the interest rate is 5.5 percent.

Mrs. McMurrough’s total monthly income from all sources is approximately $1,748.00. Her living expenses are as follows:

Mortgage payment and taxes $ 689.16
Condominium fee $ 139.00
Content insurance and personal property insurance $ 42.00
Medical expenses $ 106.91
Utilities $ 197.58
Cable (one-half) $ 13.16
Car payment $ 318.99
Car insurance $ 49.11
Gasoline $ 50.00
Food $ 175.00
Toiletries and miscellaneous $ 50.00
Total: $1,830.91

*889 7. Her budget includes nothing for phone, laundry or cleaning. She does her church’s bookkeeping and is paid $100.00 per month less taxes. However, she testified that she is going to return that money to the church as her contribution. Her 1995 income was approximately $14,922.51. She has an IRA valued at $38,000.00.

8. The Debtor, John Slover, testified that he lives in Tulsa with a lady fiiend. He testified that, at the time of filing bankruptcy, he resided in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. The Debtor further testified that he graduated from high school and received a junior college equivalency from the University of Maryland while he was in the Marines.

The Debtor is not currently married. When asked by the Court how many times he had been married, he responded, “four times to five women, or five times to four women, whichever you prefer.” The Debtor testified that he has an 18 year old daughter, who is still in high school and he pays child support in the amount of $200.00 per month. However, he testified that the Court Order only requires him to pay $100.00 per month. Further, he testified that he will voluntarily pay child support until his daughter graduates from college.

9. The Debtor has always been employed in the automobile industry. However, since the dealership went broke, he has not retained the same employment for more than a few months at a time. In September, 1995, he obtained employment at One Hour Acceptance which assists dealers in financing automobiles. His compensation was $500.00 per week plus expenses. He quit working for One Hour Acceptance because they were changing the rate of his compensation to $65 per car contract. Under the new compensation plan, he testified he would receive approximately $1,200.00 per month and the employer would require him to pay for his own cellular phone and pager in the amount of $400.00 per month. The Debtor is currently unemployed and has drawn state unemployment compensation of $232.00 per week since voluntarily becoming unemployed on November 23, 1995. The Debtor testified that he does not have an interest in a 401-k plan, an IRA or any military retirement.

10. The Debtor believes he has 11 or 12 weeks left to draw unemployment compensation. The Debtor’s monthly expenses are as follows:

Rent $ 250.00
Telephone $ 40.00

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Bluebook (online)
191 B.R. 886, 1996 Bankr. LEXIS 107, 1996 WL 48830, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/slover-v-slover-in-re-slover-okeb-1996.