In re Hayes
Citation | 407 F.2d 1031 |
Decision Date | 06 March 1969 |
Docket Number | 18317.,No. 18316,18316 |
Parties | In the Matter of Grace HAYES, Bankrupt. The KENTUCKY COMPANY, Inc., Appellant, v. Grace HAYES, Appellee. In the Matter of Grace HAYES, Bankrupt. Portia F. SCHAEFER, Trustee, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Grace HAYES, Bankrupt, Defendant-Appellee. |
Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit) |
John Swinford, Cynthiana, Ky., for the Kentucky Co., Inc.
Frank D. Emerson, Cleveland, Ohio, for Portia F. Schaefer.
Arthur L. Brooks, Jr., Lexington, Ky., for appellee; Meade & Brooks, Lexington, Ky., on brief.
Before EDWARDS and COFFIN,* Circuit Judges, and CECIL, Senior Circuit Judge.
The Trustee in Bankruptcy and the sole creditor appeal from the dismissal by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky of their petitions to review an opinion and order of the Referee in Bankruptcy and from the court's affirmance of same. The referee's order had denied appellant trustee's motion for turnover orders which would have required Grace Hayes, the bankrupt, to pay over $30,000 which represented the proceeds of a number of United States Savings Bonds.
The facts, which are not in dispute, were stated thus in the referee's opinion:
Appellant-trustee in this appeal relies primarily upon the proposition that Treasury Regulations and other legal authority support the right of trustees in bankruptcy to reach a bankrupt's interests in United States Savings Bonds.
This principle seems to us to be thoroughly established by the explicit language of the Treasury Regulations which we quote hereafter — and in particular by 31 C.F.R. § 315.21 (1968).
And the authorities relied upon by appellants amply illustrate (directly or by implication) the right of a trustee in bankruptcy to reach a bankrupt's interest in United States Savings Bonds registered in coownership form. Simon v. Schaetzel, 189 F.2d 597 (10th Cir. 1951); Guldager v. United States, 204 F.2d 487 (6th Cir. 1953).
All of this authority, however, is largely beside the point in this case. For the dispute here is really whether or not the bankrupt, Grace Hayes, had any interest — or, more appropriately, any interest of value — as of July 1, 1964, the date of the petition in bankruptcy. The burden of proof on this issue is on the trustee in bankruptcy. See Maggio v. Zeitz, 333 U.S. 56, 64, 68 S.Ct. 401, 92 L.Ed. 476 (1948); Sheinman v. Chalmers, 33 F.2d 902 (3d Cir. 1929); In re Scranton Knitting Mills, Inc., 23 F.Supp. 803 (M.D.Pa. 1938).
In the Stock Yards Bank case, this court also pointed out:
United States v. Stock Yards Bank of Louisville, 231 F.2d 628, 630 (6th Cir. 1956).
See also Marcum v. Marcum, 377 S.W. 2d 62 (Ky. 1964).
Thus, we look first (and primarily) to federal law for answers to the questions posed by this appeal.
The regulations pertaining to federal savings bonds authorize three forms of registration — single owner, coownership, and beneficiary or payable on death. 31 C.F.R. § 315.7 (1968). The regulations also provide that the registration "must express the actual ownership of and interest in" the bonds, except as otherwise provided in Subpart E, 31 C.F.R. § 315.5 (1968).1
Subpart E of the regulations, 31 C.F.R. § 315.21, specifically provides as follows:
31 C.F.R. § 315.20 further provides:
Thus it appears clear that provision is made for judicial determination of the "extent" of interest of a registered coowner. And, likewise, it seems apparent that voluntary transfers inter vivos are ruled out.
Two other regulations, however, are essential to determination of the case. 31 C.F.R. §§ 315.39 and 315.60 provide in part:
Thus a coowner in possession of a bond can cash the same without the knowledge or consent of the other registered coowner. By making these bonds readily...
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In re Miller
...or benefit to the estate." 11 U.S.C. § 542(a). The trustee has the burden of proof in a turnover action. Kentucky Co. v. Hayes (In re Hayes), 407 F.2d 1031, 1033 (6th Cir. 1969). Federal law determines what property is included in the estate, while state law controls whether the debtor has ......
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In re Skinner
...possession, even if he carries out the confirmed plan, is too tenuous to justify turnover at this point. Kentucky Co. v. Hayes (In re Hayes), 407 F.2d 1031 (6th Cir.1969); Carlton, Fields, Ward, Emmanuel, Smith & Cutler v. Boyer (In re U.S.A. Diversified Products, Inc.), 196 B.R. 801 (N.D.I......
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