In re McRae

• Decision Date: 25 August 2003
• Docket Number: No. 5:02cv385 MMP.,5:02cv385 MMP.
• Citation: 308 B.R. 572
• Parties: In re William B. MCRAE, Appellant/Debtor.
• Court: U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Northern District of Florida

308 B.R. 572

In re William B. MCRAE, Appellant/Debtor.

No. 5:02cv385 MMP.

United States District Court, N.D. Florida, Panama City Division.

August 25, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ronald Aaron Mowrey, Mary Elizabeth Watts-Wilkie, Mowrey & Biggins PA, Tallahassee, FL, for Appellant.

John Edward Venn, Jr., John E. Venn Jr., PA, Pensacola, FL, Pro se.

ORDER

PAUL, Senior District Judge.

This cause comes before the Court on appeal from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division (Bankruptcy Case No. 01-20930-PCY5). Appellant/Debtor William B. McRae (hereinafter "Debtor") challenges the Bankruptcy Judge's order sustaining the objection of Trustee John E. Venn, Jr. (hereinafter "Trustee") to Debtor's claims of exemption. Specifically, Debtor challenges the following rulings below: (1) that tenancy by the entirety property may be administered by a trustee when all joint debts have been paid or reaffirmed post-petition, and (2) that proceeds from the liquidation of non-exempt entireties property are available to all creditors of the Chapter 7 debtor. Based upon the facts of the case, the arguments of counsel and the applicable law, the judgment of the bankruptcy court is REVERSED and this case REMANDED for proceedings consistent with this order.

I. BACKGROUND

The following facts are undisputed. See Initial Br. of Appellant William B. McCrae (doc. 3) (hereinafter "Debtor's Brief") at 4-5; Br. of John E. Venn, Jr., Trustee (doc. 4) (hereinafter "Trustee's Brief") at 3. Debtor filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code on December 20, 2001. Appellant's wife did not join in the petition. Appellant's schedules identify various real and personal properties owned jointly by Debtor and his wife as tenants by the entirety. On May 9, 2002, Trustee filed an objection to Debtor's claim of exemptions alleging Debtor was not entitled to his full claim of exemptions as joint unsecured debts existed as of the date of filing for bankruptcy.

A hearing an Trustee's objection to Debtor's claim of exemptions was held on June 28, 2002, before Bankruptcy Judge Lewis M. Killian, Jr. At the hearing it was established that joint debt listed on the petition as due to MBNA was paid in full prior to the filing of bankruptcy, and that the debt listed as due to Cannon U.S.A. was the only joint unsecured debt at the time of filing. It was also established that the Cannon debt, which totaled $9,401.99, was paid in full by Debtor's wife on February 25, 2002. At the time of the hearing no joint creditors had filed proofs of claim, and the claims bar date expired on June 5, 2002.

Debtor argued at the hearing that Trustee had no basis to object to Debtor's claimed exemptions as any pre-petition joint unsecured debt was extinguished by Debtor's non-filing spouse. Appellant further argued that even if the tenancy by the entirety property was administered, the administration should be limited to payment of joint unsecured creditors, of which there were none at the time the objection was made. The Bankruptcy Court held that non-exempt tenancy by the entirety property should be administered to both joint unsecured creditors and other unsecured creditors in equal priority despite payment in full of all joint unsecured debt. Debtor now appeals this ruling.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Review of a bankruptcy court's ruling on a trustee's objection to claimed exemptions is a mixed question of law and fact. A district court reviews findings of fact by the bankruptcy court under a clearly erroneous standard. In re Sublett, 895 F.2d 1381, 1383 (11th Cir.1990). A bankruptcy court's legal determinations are reviewed de novo. In re Miner v. Bay Bank & Trust Co., 185 B.R. 362 (N.D.Fla.1995).

III. DISCUSSION

A. Debtor's tenancy by the entirety property may be administered by the Trustee in the amount of the joint unsecured debt outstanding as of the date of Debtor's bankruptcy filing.

The filing of a bankruptcy petition creates a bankruptcy estate. 11 U.S.C. § 541(a). The bankruptcy estate consists of all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the commencement of the case, and the debtor's interest in property held as a tenancy by the entireties is included in the estate. Id. However, Section 522(b)(2)(B) authorizes a debtor to exempt any interest in property in which the debtor had, immediately before the commencement of the case, an interest as a tenant by the entirety or joint tenant to the extent that such interest is exempt from process under applicable non-bankruptcy law. 11 U.S.C. §§ 522(b)(2)(B). Under Florida law, property held as a tenancy by the entireties cannot be reached by a creditor to satisfy the individual debt of one spouse. Havoco of America, Ltd. v. Hill, 197 F.3d 1135, 1139 (11th Cir.1999). However, if both spouses are jointly obligated on the debt, then the joint creditor may reach the entireties property. Id. Where joint creditors exist, a debtor's equity in entireties property above the amount of the joint obligations qualifies for the Section 522(b)(2)(B) exemption. Id.; In the Matter of Geoghegan, 101 B.R. 329 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.1989).

In this case, the parties agree that Debtor and his spouse were liable on one joint debt to Cannon U.S.A. in the amount of $9,401.99 as of December 21, 2001, the date that Debtor filed his bankruptcy petition. Debtor asserts that the Court should disregard this joint obligation because his non-debtor wife paid off the joint debt post-petition on February 25, 2002, and therefore there is no joint debt to be administered. The Court disagrees.

The fact that a debtor's non-petitioning spouse has paid off a joint obligation after a petition in bankruptcy has been filed does not retroactively make the entireties property exempt from process immediately before the case was filed. See In re Kimmel, 131 B.R. 223, 228 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.1991); In re Sefren, 41 B.R. 747 (Bankr.D.Md.1984). It is clear that the decisive moment for evaluating the entireties exemption is "immediately before the commencement of the case ..." 11 U.S.C. §§ 522(b)(2)(B); In re Kimmel, 131 B.R. at 228; In re Sefren, 41 B.R. at 749. This statutory provision for determining the moment at which the entireties exemption attaches creates a bright-line rule, and the Court sees no reason to deviate from the rule here. Even though the joint obligation to Cannon U.S.A. is now paid in full, it is uncontested that Debtor and his spouse were jointly liable on this debt at the time of the filing of the petition. Therefore, the court below properly held that the Cannon U.S.A. debt was not exempt under § 11 U.S.C. §§ 522(b)(2)(B) at the time the petition was filed, and thus became property of the bankruptcy estate, with the balance of Debtor's entireties property exceeding the joint claims which could have been reduced to judgment and levied upon at the time of the filing of the petition exempt from process under Florida law.

B. Non-exempt tenancy by the entireties property within the bankruptcy estate should not be administered to sole creditors.

There is considerable disagreement among the districts of this circuit, and even among the courts of the several districts, on the issue of whether a trustee must distribute proceeds from entireties property for the benefit of the general estate pursuant to § 726 of the Bankruptcy Code, or whether the proceeds should be used solely to pay joint creditors. Compare In re Planas, 199 B.R. 211, 215-19 (Bankr.S.D.Fla.1996); In re Boyd, 121 B.R. at 625; In re Amici, 99 B.R. 100 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.1989) with In re Monzon, 214 B.R. 38, 48-49 (Bankr.S.D.Fla.1997); Pepenella v. Life Ins. Co. of Ga., 103 B.R. 299, 302 (M.D.Fla.1988). The basis for this disagreement was summarized by one court as follows:

[I]f an individual creditor is allowed to benefit from the entireties property now within the estate, that creditor is in a better position with respect to the debtor than he would be provided under state substantive law. Likewise, if an individual creditor is not allowed this extra benefit, this would violate an aim of the Bankruptcy Code — to equalize distribution among creditors.

In re Planas, 199 B.R. at 216. Despite the apparent conflict among and within other jurisdictions, Trustee argues, as the court below held, that the law in this district is settled by In re Boyd, 121 B.R. 622 (Bankr.N.D.Fla.1989), which squarely holds that non-exempt tenancy by the entireties property should be administered according to the distribution scheme of § 726. Debtor disagrees, and maintains that the bankruptcy court's opinion in Boyd was later vacated by an unpublished opinion of this Court with respect to the issue of the administration of Florida entireties property, and therefore the question in an open issue of law for this Court to determine. See Boyd v. Strickland, TCA 90-40132-WS (N.D.Fla. Nov. 1, 1991) (Stafford, Chief J.) (hereinafter "Boyd II"). Upon review, the Court agrees that the published judgement of the bankruptcy court in Boyd is no longer valid in light of the subsequent opinion of the district court vacating the judgement.

1. In re Boyd, 121 B.R. 622 (Bankr.N.D.Fla.1989) in no longer valid law.

The facts of Boyd are strikingly similar to those of the case at bar. In Boyd, a married debtor filed a sole, voluntary petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 7. The debtor's spouse did not join in the petition. The debtor claimed a tenancy by the entireties exception for couple's interest in a condominium held jointly between them and their daughter, and also exemption for the couple's primary residence. Although there were joint creditors of the debtor and his spouse, none of the creditors filed a claim. The question before the bankruptcy court was whether the administration of the entireties property was limited to payment of the joint debt, or if the entireties property could be used to satisfy all of the...