Voiland v. Kimmell (In re Kimmell)

480 B.R. 876
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 12, 2012
DocketBankruptcy No. 10-B-36039; Adversary No. 10-A-02174
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 480 B.R. 876 (Voiland v. Kimmell (In re Kimmell)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Voiland v. Kimmell (In re Kimmell), 480 B.R. 876 (Ill. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

MANUEL BARBOSA, Bankruptcy Judge.

The Chapter 7 Trustee filed an adversary proceeding against the Debtor’s ex-wife seeking to avoid an unequal division of property under a marital settlement agreement signed 1.5 years before the Debtor’s petition date as a fraudulent transfer. For the reasons stated below, the Trustee failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that the unequal division constituted a fraudulent transfer, and therefore judgment will be entered in favor of the Defendant.

I. JURISDICTION AND PROCEDURE

The Court has jurisdiction to decide this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1384 and Internal Operating Procedure 15(a) of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. It is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(H).

II. FACTS AND BACKGROUND

The following facts and procedural history are taken from the Amended Complaint and Answer thereto, and from the testimony and exhibits presented and admitted into evidence at the trial held July 12, 2012.

Bryan and Gale Kimmell were married in 1981. Both spouses worked during their marriage, though during the majority of their marriage Bryan earned a higher income. Gale worked first as a teacher and then at a computer company. Bryan worked for most of his career in the financial markets before radically changing careers and trying his hand at running a restaurant a few years before his bankruptcy petition. He worked at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for about fifteen years ending in 1998, at which time he earned a total annual income of over $150,000. In 1999, he quit the trading floor to form an energy consulting firm, which he operated until 2007. His firm was successful, but he earned significantly less than he had on the trading floor. In 2006, he started the restaurant, to which he devoted his full attention, ceasing to actively run the consulting firm by 2007.

Bryan had been approached by a friend sometime in 2006 with the idea of starting a restaurant. To do this, they formed an S Corporation, Raising Kane Corp., of which Bryan was an over 99% shareholder. Bryan and his business partner made their primary investments in the restaurant through shareholder loans to the corporation. As an initial investment, Bryan withdrew $60,000 from his and his wife’s joint IRA to help fund the necessary build-out of the leased property and for other expenses to create and open the new restaurant. Bryan informed Gale that he was withdrawing the money to start the restaurant, though they did not discuss the details. While Gale was not happy with Bryan’s plan and did not agree with the decision, she did not forbid him from using the money in that way. Gale thought Bryan was better suited to the financial industry and was too easily swayed by his friend’s idea. She also indicated from the beginning that she did not want to have anything to do with the restaurant. In contrast, Bryan always believed the restaurant would be successful. However, the initial $60,000 investment was not enough to complete the restaurant, and Bryan took an additional $140,300 out of the IRA in March or April 2007 to further [881]*881invest in the restaurant. Gale was aware of this subsequent investment as well. The restaurant opened in March 2007.

Whether because of the differences in opinion over Bryan’s foray into the restaurant business or for other reasons, Gale and Bryan’s relationship began to break down irretrievably sometime in either 2006 or 2007. In 2005, they had placed their home for sale with the hope of moving together into a smaller home. But, by the time they actually sold the house in December 2007, they knew they would separate and move into separate residences. Gale testified that she thought that she first told Bryan that she was unhappy and wanted to divorce sometime in 2006, but could not remember the date. Bryan did not recall any such conversation, but noted that they were drifting apart and even started maintaining separate bank accounts by 2006 or 2007.

Bryan and Gale sold their residence on December 3, 2007, for which they received net proceeds of $477,416.57. Because they had decided by this point not to purchase a new home together, they deposited the proceeds into a joint account. They discussed the division of these proceeds and agreed that Gale should receive an extra $189,000 as compensation for the retirement funds that Bryan had invested into the restaurant. Otherwise, they generally divided the remainder of the proceeds equally or used it on joint expenses over the next year or year and a half. After selling the house, they continued to live together in an apartment and split rent for most of 2008 until Bryan finally moved out.

It was unclear from the testimony whether the restaurant made any profits during 2007, but during all subsequent years it operated at a loss. Bryan estimated it may have lost as much as $70,000 or $80,000 in 2008, but was unsure. The corporation’s tax return for 2008 was not submitted as evidence, and Bryan’s individual tax return for 2008 claimed his individual share of nonpassive loss from the S corporation was $25,000. Despite the losses, Bryan continued to be optimistic about the restaurant’s chances. The restaurant generated significant gross revenues and seemed to be doing better than most restaurants in the area. Bryan felt that the losses were caused by the general recession that had started at the end of 2007 and felt that if they could hold on until the general economy improved, the restaurant would be successful.

On March 31, 2009, Bryan and Gale signed a marital settlement agreement, which was subsequently approved by an Illinois divorce court and incorporated into a judgment of dissolution of marriage (the “Marital Settlement Agreement”). It was an uncontested proceeding, in which only one lawyer was involved, though the lawyer technically represented Bryan. The settlement agreement waived any right to maintenance, and Bryan and Gale had no children. At the time of the dissolution, the Kimmells had no real estate and they already had separate bank accounts and separate possession of personal property. The settlement agreement effectively gave each party ownership of the property already thus divided. Thus, Bryan was entitled to keep his two deposit accounts with balances at the time totaling $1,092, an IRA with a balance of $74,251, and a Subaru Outback worth $1,000. Gale was entitled to keep an IRA at Stiefel Nicklaus of $167,746.23, an IRA at Vanguard of $11,000, two deposit accounts totaling $73,892.71, and a 2009 Honda Civic worth $19,975.1 Of these easily-valued assets, the settlement agreement resulted in Bryan receiving a total of $76,343 in depos[882]*882it or retirement accounts and vehicles while Gale received $272,613.90 in deposit or retirement accounts and vehicles.

Gale was in possession of more liquid assets as of March 2009 because she had received the additional $189,000 out of the proceeds of the sale of their home in 2007 and because Bryan had poured most of his share of the house sale proceeds into further investments in his unsuccessful restaurant between 2007 and 2009. Gale also testified that she had inherited the $11,000 Vanguard account from her father, that it was funded when she was young and long before she married Bryan, and that it had always been in her name. The settlement agreement also provided that each spouse was entitled to keep any other 401 (k)s, IRAs or pensions owned by that spouse.

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480 B.R. 876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/voiland-v-kimmell-in-re-kimmell-ilnb-2012.