Wallace v. Meehan (In Re Meehan)

162 B.R. 367, 30 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 894, 1993 Bankr. LEXIS 1899, 1993 WL 541214
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Georgia
DecidedDecember 27, 1993
Docket17-50843
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 162 B.R. 367 (Wallace v. Meehan (In Re Meehan)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wallace v. Meehan (In Re Meehan), 162 B.R. 367, 30 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 894, 1993 Bankr. LEXIS 1899, 1993 WL 541214 (Ga. 1993).

Opinion

ORDER

JOHN S. DALIS, Bankruptcy Judge.

The Chapter 7 trustee in the above captioned case objects to debtor’s claimed exemption of an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”) on the ground that the IRA is property of the estate and not entitled to be exempted under the Georgia scheme of exemptions set out in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (“O.C.G.A”) § 44-13-100. 1 Debtor argues that the IRA is excluded from property of the estate pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 541(c)(2) or alternatively, is exempted from the estate. Debtor also contends that 75% of the IRA funded by contributions from her husband are excluded from the estate under 11 U.S.C. § 541(d). Having heard the evidence presented, considered the arguments and briefs of counsel, and consulted applicable authorities, I enter the following order sustaining the trustee’s objection.

Facts

The debtor Virginia Ann Meehan is 63 years old and married. Debtor has a bache *369 lor’s degree in psychology and has worked as a travel agent and high school teacher. Debtor’s chapter 7 case, filed March 25,1993, results from $125,000.00 in unsecured debt incurred from her ownership and operation of a children’s store. Debtor has no secured debt.

In her schedules debtor lists the following assets: a one-half undivided interest in unencumbered real property with a market value of $96,900.00; a checking account with a $100.00 balance; furniture, clothing, furs and jewelry worth $4,400.00; and an IRA at Merrill Lynch with a value of $19,000.00. 2 Except for a limited exemption claim in real property of $5,000.00, debtor claims all other assets totally exempt, including the IRA. 3

Debtor is currently unemployed, receiving only $302.00 per month income from Social Security. Her petition lists no monthly living expenses. She is totally supported by her husband. Debtor testified that in the event of her husband’s death she would incur living expenses of approximately $1,340.00 per month. Debtor was unaware of the existence of any life insurance or pension benefits to which she might be entitled in the case of his death.

Debtor’s IRA, which was stipulated to by the parties as one defined in § 408 of the' Internal Revenue Code [Title 26 United States Code], was opened in 1983. Debtor’s husband opened his own IRA at the same time. Debtor’s husband contributed approximately 75 percent of the money in debtor’s IRA for which he took tax deductions against his income.

Analysis

The issues are

(1) whether the IRA is excluded from the bankruptcy estate under 11 U.S.C. § 541(c)(2); and
(2) if not so excluded, whether the IRA is exempted from the estate under either 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(2)(B) or O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100;
(3) Whether 75% of the IRA funds should be excluded from the estate under 11 U.S.C. § 541(d).

As a general rule, any legal or equitable interest that the debtor has in property as of the date of the bankruptcy filing becomes property of the bankruptcy estate. 11 U.S.C. § 541(a). Certain exceptions however are made to this rule. 11 U.S.C. § 541(b), (c), and (d). In this case, it is undisputed that if the IRA does not fall within the subsection (c) exception, at least some portion of it to be determined under subsection (d) is property of the estate under § 541(a).

Bankruptcy Code § 541(c)(2) excludes from property of the estate a debtor’s interest in property in which there is

[a] restriction on the transfer of a beneficial interest of the debtor in a trust that is enforceable under applicable nonbankrupt-cy law.

Applicable nonbankruptey law under this section refers to any relevant nonbankruptcy law, including federal law such as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) 4 . Patterson v. Shumate, — U.S. —, —, 112 S.Ct. 2242, 2247, 119 L.Ed.2d 519 (1992). In Patterson the Supreme Court held that an anti-alienation provision in an ERISA-qualified pension plan constituted a restriction on transfer enforceable under “applicable nonbankruptcy law” for purposes of the § 541(c)(2) exclusion. Id. at -, 112 S.Ct. at 2248.

Debtor contends that because Congress established IRA’s in 26 U.S.C. § 408 under the umbrella of ERISA, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Patterson establishes that her IRA is excluded from the estate under § 541(e)(2). Debtor is mistaken. The hold *370 ing in Patterson was based on the Supreme Court’s determination that the pension plan at issue contained the anti-assignment and anti-alienation provisions required for ERISA qualification and that those restrictions were enforceable under ERISA. — U.S. at —, 112 S.Ct. at 2247. The differences between an IRA and an ERISA-quali-fied plan are that

[t]he anti-assignation and non-alienation ERISA provisions are found at 29 U.S.C. § 1056(d)(1). IRA’s are governed by 26 U.S.C. § 408. Nowhere in the statutory provisions governing IRA’s is there contained an anti-assignation or non-alienation clause. See, 26 U.S.C. § 408. In fact, 29 U.S.C. § 1051, which deals with the “coverage” and “vesting” of ERISA plans provide that this part, Part 2 of ERISA in which 29 U.S.C. § 1051 and 29 U.S.C. § 1056 are contained, shall not apply to IRA’s described in Section 408 of Title 26. This is a specific exclusion. See, 29 U.S.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
162 B.R. 367, 30 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 894, 1993 Bankr. LEXIS 1899, 1993 WL 541214, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wallace-v-meehan-in-re-meehan-gasb-1993.