In re Smith

• Decision Date: 28 July 2022
• Docket Number: Case No. 22-10494-JDL
• Citation: 643 B.R. 363
• Parties: IN RE: Bobby Lee SMITH, Debtor.
• Court: U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Western District of Oklahoma

643 B.R. 363

IN RE: Bobby Lee SMITH, Debtor.

Case No. 22-10494-JDL

United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Oklahoma.

Signed July 28, 2022

643 B.R. 365

Elaine M. Dowling, Oklahoma City, OK, for Debtor.

Susan J. Manchester, Susan Manchester Law, Oklahoma City, OK, Trustee, Pro Se.

ORDER ON CLAIM OF EXEMPTION

Janice D. Loyd, United States Bankruptcy Judge

" ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.’ ‘[T]he question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass"

Here, the word in question is "motor vehicle," but, unlike Humpty Dumpty, neither a litigant nor a court may manufacture words to mean what it chooses them to mean. In a case of first impression, not only in this Court but apparently in any jurisdiction in the United States, the Debtor claims that his golf cart, his only method of transportation, is exempt from being property of the bankruptcy estate by virtue of being a "motor vehicle" under the Oklahoma exemption statute. The bankruptcy Trustee takes issue with the Debtor's claim, arguing that definitions within the Oklahoma Motor Vehicle statutes determine the issue. For consideration by the Court are the following:

1. Objection to Debtor's Claimed Exemptions [Doc. 16]; and

2. Debtor's Response to Trustee's Objection to Claimed Exemptions [Doc. 20].

Pursuant to Rules 7052 and 9014 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, the Court makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law:

Facts

On July 20, 2022, the Court held an evidentiary hearing on the issues framed by the two above pleadings. The Debtor's bankruptcy Schedule C, Property Claimed as Exempt, listed a 2005 Yamaha golf cart with a current value of $2,000 as exempt as a "motor vehicle" under 31 OS § 1(A)(13). The Debtor testified that he believed that the golf cart had a value of approximately $2,400; that it was powered by a gas engine; that he filed for bankruptcy because he was unemployed, his roofing business had failed and that he had gone through a divorce. He testified that the golf cart was his only means of transportation for shopping or to take himself and his two children to dine out. He testified that the golf cart was his only reliable means of transportation which he owned. From time to time, for more lengthy travel needs required for chores or part-time work, he borrowed his father's pickup when it was available. He testified that there was an automobile at his property; however, it was owned by his daughter (and titled and registered in her name) and had a broken transmission. He testified that the golf cart was not licensed nor registered with the Oklahoma Tax Commission Department of Motor Vehicles. He further testified that he did not drive the golf cart on the public streets (other than to perhaps cross them) but drove it on the sidewalks.¹ He does not golf.

643 B.R. 366

Discussion

When determining the validity of a claimed state law exemption, bankruptcy courts look to the applicable state law. Lampe v. Williamson (In re Lampe) , 331 F.3d 750, 754 (10th Cir. 2003) (quotation marks omitted); In re Hodes , 402 F.3d 1005, 1009 (10th Cir. 2005). Because Oklahoma has opted out of the federal bankruptcy exemption scheme, the Debtor may only claim exemptions available under Oklahoma law. In re Kretzinger , 103 F.3d 943, 945 (10th Cir. 1996) ; In re Gibson , 433 B.R. 868, 870 (Bankr. N.D. Okla. 2010) ; In re Crisp , 215 B.R. 476 (Bankr. W.D. Okla. 1997) ; see 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(1) ; 31 O.S. § 1.B. In the present case, the exemption claimed is the following under 31 OS § 1 (A)(13) :

A. Except as otherwise provided in this title and notwithstanding subsection B of this section, the following property shall be reserved to every person residing in the state, exempt from attachment or execution and every other species of forced sale for the payment of debts, except as herein provided:

* * * *

13. Such person's interest, not to exceed Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($7,500.00) in value, in one motor vehicle;

The Debtor claims his golf cart as exempt by virtue of being classified as a "motor vehicle" under the foregoing statute.

An exemption is presumed to be valid, and the objecting party, here the Trustee, bears the initial burden of producing evidence to rebut the presumption and establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the exemption was not properly claimed. In re Grant, 2016 WL 455416, *3 (10th Cir. BAP 2016) ; In re Hall , 441 B.R. 680, 685...