Nielsen v. Field (In re Nielsen)
Nielsen v. Field (In re Nielsen)
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON MOTIONS TO DISMISS AND FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
The debtors in this chapter 7 case are the settlors, lifetime beneficiaries, and trustees of a trust which they may revoke or amend at any time. They contributed real property to the trust. They live in one of the two buildings on the property. They have claimed a homestead exemption in the property and, in this adversary proceeding, seek to avoid certain judicial liens on the property. For the reasons stated below, I hold that such liens are avoidable under Bankruptcy Code § 522(f), but factual questions remain about the extent to which the liens are avoidable.
I. JURISDICTION AND VENUE.
The bankruptcy court has personal and subject matter jurisdiction. It also has statutory and constitutional authority to enter a final judgment. Venue is proper in this district.
II. BACKGROUND.
Plaintiffs Troy and Dianna Nielsen are the settlors, trustees, and “primary beneficiaries” of the Troy and Dianna Nielsen Living Trust, dated May 9, 2005 (the
The Nielsen Trust holds title to real property located at 442 Kupulau Drive in Kihei, Maui. There are two dwelling units on the property. The Nielsens reside in the smaller building and operate a bed and breakfast inn in the other.
The property is subject to two mortgage liens securing debts totaling about $932,953.93. In addition, Dane Field, as bankruptcy trustee of The Mortgage Store, Inc. (the “TMS Trustee”), asserts a lien on the property based on a recorded judgment against the Nielsens of $329,880.11 and a writ of attachment. OneWest Bank also asserts a judgment lien against the property of $770,091.56.
Less than ninety days after the TMS Trustee and OneWest Bank recorded their liens, the Nielsens filed a chapter 11 petition. Later, they converted their case to chapter 7.
The Nielsens’ complaint in this adversary proceeding consists of four counts. The first two counts seek avoidance of the TMS Trustee’s and OneWest Bank’s liens as preferential transfers. The third and fourth counts seek avoidance of the same liens under section 522(f) of the Bankruptcy Code.
The TMS Trustee and OneWest argue that the court should dismiss the complaint or, alternatively, enter summary judgment in their favor.
The Nielsens seek summary judgment in their favor on the third and fourth counts of the complaint.
III. STANDARD.
The court may dismiss a complaint for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”
Summary judgment is appropriate if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
IY. DISCUSSION.
A. The Preference Claims.
I will dismiss Counts I and II. The Bankruptcy Code provides that “the trustee may avoid” preferential transfers.
B. Section 522(f) and “Property of the Estate.”
A chapter 7 debtor may avoid the “fixing” of certain “judicial liens” (including judgment and attachment liens
Because debtors may only claim exemptions in “property of the estate,”
The bankruptcy estate includes “all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the commencement of the case ...”
C.The Nielsen Trust Property is Property of the Estate.
OneWest and the TMS Trustee argue that the property belongs to the Nielsen Trust, not the Nielsens, and that therefore the Nielsens have no interest in that property which they could exempt. The Nielsens take the opposite position.
I agree with the Nielsens and hold that the property is the Nielsens’ property and therefore property of their bankruptcy estate.
Hawaii courts and statutes have never squarely addressed whether self-settled, revocable trusts, also known as “living trusts,” are separate entities. When a state court has not addressed an issue, federal courts have a duty to predict how a state court would rule on an issue “ ‘using intermediate appellate court decisions, decisions from other jurisdictions, statutes, treatises, and restatements as guidance.’ ”
1. Under Hawaii law, self-settled revocable trusts are not separate entities.
No party in this adversary proceeding has cited a statute or state appel
Hawaii has adopted the common law of England “as ascertained by English and American decisions....”
Other persuasive authorities lead to the same result. California law, which Hawaii courts often follow, treats living trusts as estate planning devices and not separate legal entities.
The federal district court for this district has also held that, under Hawaii law, the settlor, trustee, and beneficiary of a revocable living trust “effectively owned the property.”
Viewing living trusts not as separate entities, but as will substitutes, is consistent with Hawaii case law holding that debtors may not shield their assets from creditors by putting them in a self-settled trust. For instance, in Cooke Trust Co. v. Lord,
2. The Nielsens’ trust property is property of the estate.
Since the Nielsen Trust is not a separate entity from the Nielsens, the property they contributed to the Nielsen Trust became property of the bankruptcy estate. But even if the living trust is a separate entity, the trust property would still be property of the bankruptcy estate.
The bankruptcy estate broadly includes every legal and equitable interest in property that the Nielsens had at the date of their bankruptcy.
Including the trust’s assets in the Nielsens’ bankruptcy estate is consistent with applicable nonbankruptcy law. Under Hawaii law, the creditors of the settlor and trustee of a revocable living trust can recover from the trust’s assets. A “settlor cannot create a spendthrift trust in favor of himself good as against either prior or subsequent creditors.”
“A man can not put his own property beyond the reach of creditors and at the same time reserve substantial interests or control over it.” Under Hawai'i law, where the settlor creates a trust where the trustee has absolute discretion to pay the settlor (among others), the settlor’s creditors “can reach his interest, and can compel the trustee to pay over so much as in his discretion he is authorized to pay to the settlor.” Furthermore, “when a beneficiary of a spendthrift trust is also the settlor of that trust, creditors may reach both income and corpus in satisfaction of either prior or subsequent debts.”36
It would be a non-sequitur to say that an individual’s creditors can levy on trust property outside of bankruptcy, but the same property is unavailable to the same creditors in bankruptcy.
D. The Effect of the TMS Trustee’s Attachment Lien
The TMS Trustee argues that this case is distinguishable from authorities that treat settlors of living trusts as owners of the trust property, because the TMS Trustee obtained and recorded a writ of attachment directed specifically to the Nielsen Trust property. I disagree. The imposition of the attachment lien did not change the character of the Nielsen Trust or of Nielsens’ rights in it. The property still belonged to the Nielsens for all relevant purposes. The only difference was that the property arguably became subject to an additional lien, but the Bankruptcy Code permits the avoidance of such liens in the right circumstances.
Further, the TMS Trustee’s argument, if accepted, would allow him to have his cake and eat it too. When he moved for the writ of attachment on the Nielsen Trust’s property, he argued that “the law is clear that creditors of a settlor-trustee may recover from a revocable trust established by the settlor-trustee.”
E. The Cases On Which the Defendants Rely
The TMS Trustee relies on the Bogetti decision.
The debtors in Bogetti then moved, just as the Nielsens have done, to avoid a judgment and attachment lien on the property under section 522. The bankruptcy court denied this motion, reasoning that the property still belonged to the trust, not the debtors, and that one cannot claim an exemption in another’s property.
I decline to follow Bogetti for three reasons.
First, I disagree with Bogetti’s interpretation of California law. Another bankruptcy court described the relevant law of California as follows:
In California, an inter vivos revocable trust is recognized as “a probate avoidance device.” As such, it “is not a legal entity; it is simply a collection of assets and liabilities.” Furthermore, “[tjhere is no distinction in California law between property owned by the revocable trust and property owned by the settlor of such a revocable trust during the lifetime of the settlor.” As a consequence, “[property transferred to, or held in, a revocable inter vivos trust is ... deemed the property of the settlor and is reachable by the creditors of the settlor.” In sum, when property is held in an inter vivos revocable trust, “the settlor and lifetime beneficiary has the equivalent of full ownership of the property.”43
Bogetti rests on the view that a trust is a separate entity that owns the property contributed to it. As is explained above, this view is incorrect. Once one realizes that the -property of a self-settled revocable living trust is really property of the settlor, the conclusion inescapably follows that the property belongs to the settlor’s bankruptcy estate and is subject to the settlor’s exemption rights.
Second, assuming Bogetti is correct under California law, it would not be correct under Hawaii law. The court’s holding rests on the premise that the trust, not the debtors, owned the property at the date of bankruptcy. But under Hawaii law, the person who simultaneously is the settlor, trustee, and beneficiary of a trust is the owner of the trust res.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, the text of the Bankruptcy Code does not support the Bogetti court’s conclusion that debtors can exempt property held by revocable living trusts but not avoid liens that impair that exemption.
For similar reasons, the George decision
The Cowles decision,
F. The Trustee’s Equitable Arguments.
The TMS Trustee contends that the Nielsens are not entitled to a discharge due to their alleged misconduct and that for the same reasons “they should not be permitted to avail themselves of other sections of the Code.”
I disagree. First, some of the facts on which the TMS Trustee relies (such as the Nielsens’ failure to file and pay taxes) would not support a wholesale denial of the discharge or entitle creditors (other than the taxing authorities) to any remedy. Second, even if the TMS Trustee is successful in his objection to the Nielsens’ discharge,
G. The Exemption Claim and the Bed and Breakfast Inn.
The TMS Trustee and OneWest object to the Nielsens’ exemption claim on the ground that one of the two buildings on the property is used as an income-producing bed and breakfast inn. I disagree, but not for the reasons advanced by the Nielsens.
The Nielsens argue that state law defines property interests in bankruptcy cases. So far, so good. But the Nielsens go on to assert that a homestead exemption is a property right and that state law also defines that right, even if a debtor chooses the federal homestead exemption. The Nielsens offer no authority for this proposition and it is is not correct. There is no reason to think that, when Congress enacted a uniform set of federal exemptions, it intended to incorporate unspecified portions of the states’ non-uniform exemption laws.
Regardless, the Nielsens’ property is “real property ... that the debtor[s] ... [use] as a residence ...” and which is therefore covered by the federal homestead exemption.
H.The Extent of Impairment.
There remains the question of the extent to which the liens of the TMS Trustee and OneWest impair the Nielsens’ exemptions. This turns largely on the value of the property. The TMS Trustee and OneWest argue that the court should defer consideration of the value of the property until they have hired an appraiser. Although it is a close call, I will grant this request. The TMS Trustee’s decision to defer hiring an appraiser in order to save money would usually not be a sufficient reason to delay the disposition of a case. In contrast, the Nielsens have obtained an ap
V. CONCLUSION.
Counts one and two of the complaint are dismissed, and the TMS Trustee’s OneWest’s motions are granted to that extent. The Nielsens are entitled to claim the federal homestead exemption in the property; their motion is granted, and the TMS Trustee’s and OneWest’s motions are denied, to that extent. The courtroom deputy shall arrange a scheduling conference to set a date for an evidentiary hearing at which the court will determine the extent to which the defendants’ liens impair the Nielsens’ exemption.
SO ORDERED.
. Dkt. 37, 59.
. Dkt. 40.
. Dkt. 46.
. Dkt. 51.
. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).
. Compton v. Countrywide Financial Corp., 761 F.3d 1046, 1054 (9th Cir. 2014) (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009)).
. Id. (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)).
. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.
. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c), Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7056.
. Huey v. Honeywell, Inc., 82 F.3d 327, 334 (9th Cir. 1996) (quoting Celotex v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)).
. 11 U.S.C. § 547(b).
. 11 U.S.C. § 101(36).
. 11 U.S.C. § 522(f).
. 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(1).
. 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(1).
. 11 U.S.C. § 541(a).
. Arandell Corp. v. Xcel Energy, Inc. (In re W. States Wholesale Natural Gas Antitrust Litig.), 619 F.Supp.2d 1062, 1071 (D.Nev. 2008) (quoting Strother v. S. Cal. Permanente Med. Group, 79 F.3d 859, 865 (9th Cir. 1996)).
. Id. (citing Orkin v. Taylor, 487 F.3d 734, 741 (9th Cir. 2007) and Air-Sea Forwarders,
. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 1-1.
. Restatement (Second) of Trusts § 2 (1959). Other types of trusts, such as irrevocable or charitable trusts, might be considered separate legal entities for some purposes, such as the income tax.
. Amy Morris Hess, George Gleason Bogert, & George Taylor Bogert, The Law Of Trusts And Trustees § 1 (2014).
. Restatement (Second) of Trusts § 3.
. Restatement (Third) of Trusts § 25 (2003) ("[r]he property of [a revocable living] trust is ordinarily treated as though it were owned by the settlor.”); id. comment a ("In other substantive respects (such as creditors’ rights), the property held in a revocable trust is ordinarily to be treated as if it were property of the settlor and not of the beneficiaries.”).
. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 414-42; Haw. Rev. Stat. § 428-111.
. In re Brock, 494 B.R. 534, 548 (Bankr. D.Col. 2013) (citing Galdjie v. Darwish, 113 Cal.App.4th 1331, 1344-45, 7 Cal.Rptr.3d 178 (2003)); Galdjie v. Darwish, 113 Cal.App.4th 1331, 1344, 7 Cal.Rptr.3d 178 (2003).
. Galdjie v. Darwish, 113 Cal.App.4th at 1343, 7 Cal.Rptr.3d 178 (2003).
. Id.
. Id.
. Encyclopedia of Estate Planning 3-8 (Rhonda L. Griswold, et al. eds., 2007).
. Amonette v. IndyMac Bank, 515 F.Supp.2d 1176 (D.Haw. 2007).
. 41 Haw. 198 (1955).
. Id. at 202; see also Security Pacific Bank Washington v. Chang, 80 F.3d 1412 (9th Cir. 1996).
. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 414-42 (Hawaii corporations have the power to “purchase, receive, lease, or otherwise acquire, and own, hold, improve, use, and otherwise deal with, real or personal property ....” (emphasis added)); Chung v. Animal Clinic, Inc., 63 Haw. 642, 636 P.2d 721, 723-24 (Haw. 1981) (“The general rule is that a corporation and its shareholders are to be treated as distinct legal entities. The corporate veil' will be pierced and the legal entity of the corporation will be disregarded only where recognition of the corporate fiction would bring about injustice and inequity or when there is evidence that the corporate fiction has been used to perpetrate a fraud or defeat a rightful claim.”).
. 11 U.S.C. 341(a).
. Cooke Trust Co. v. Lord, 41 Haw. 198, 201 (1955); Security Pacific Bank Washington v. Chang, 80 F.3d 1412 (9th Cir. 1996).
.Holualoa Aloha, LLC v. Anekona Aloha, LLC, 129 Hawai'i 106, 294 P.3d 1092 (Haw.Ct.App. 2013) (citations omitted). The record of this case includes only a short form of the trust agreement, not the full trust agreement, so one can not be certain that the Nielsen Trust is a discretionary trust. In light of standard estate planning practices in Hawaii, however, it would be shocking if the trust were not fully discretionary.
. Adv..No. 14-90022, dkt. 18 at 3.
. Id., dkt. 4 at 9.
. In re Bogetti, 349 B.R. 14 (Bankr.E.D.Cal. 2006)
. 73 Fed.Appx. 266 (9th Cir. 2003).
. Id. at 16.
. Id. at 16-17.
. In re Brock, 494 B.R. 534, 547 (Bankr. D.Colo. 2013) (citations omitted). Granted, this is a Colorado court’s description of California law, while Bogetti was decided by a California bankruptcy court. But the California state court decisions cited by Brock are much more recent and on point than the lone decision cited by Bogetti and are also consistent with the common law. See Hess et al., supra n. 21, at § 1061 ("When the settlor [of a revocable living trust] is the trustee, then he/ she will have the same control over his/her assets in the same manner as if the trust did not exist.”).
. Eleiwa v. Whitmore (In re Eleiwa), 2103 WL 2443086 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. June 5, 2013).
. Id. at *3 (emphasis added).
. George v. Kitchens by Rice Bros., 665 F.2d 7, 8 (1st Cir. 1981).
. I assume, without deciding, that the relevant provisions of the Bankruptcy Act and the Bankruptcy Code are the same in substance.
. Id. at 8.
. Id. (emphasis added).
. In re Cowles, 143 B.R. 5 (Bankr.D.Mass. 1992).
. 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4).
. Dkt. 66 at 7.
. Adv. No. 14-90065.
. See U.S.C. § 522(c).
. Law v. Siegel, - U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 1188, 188 L.Ed.2d 146 (2014).
. 11 U.S.C. § 522(d)(1).
. The result might be different if the two buildings were on severable parcels, see 4-522 Collier on Bankruptcy P 522.09[1], n. 21 (16th ed. 2014), but the record does not indicate the property is divided or readily divisible.
. According to the Zillow website,
The Zestimate® home valuation is Zillow’s estimated market value, computed using a proprietary formula. It is not an appraisal. It is a starting point in determining a home's value. The Zestimate is calculated from public and user submitted data; your real estate agent or appraiser physically inspects the home and takes special features, location, and market conditions into account. We encourage buyers, sellers, and homeowners to supplement Zillow's information by doing other research such as:
Getting a comparative market analysis (CMA) from a real estate agent Getting an appraisal from a professional appraiser
Visiting the house (whenever possible) www.zillow.com/zestimate (last visited March 4, 2015).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN RE Troy Harley Hugh NIELSEN and Dianna Kathleen Nielsen, Debtors. Troy Harley Hugh Nielsen and Dianna Kathleen Nielsen v. Dane Field, as Trustee
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published