Frances Gecker, Not Individually But for Emerald Casino, Inc. v. Estate (In re Emerald Casino, Inc.)
Frances Gecker, Not Individually But for Emerald Casino, Inc. v. Estate (In re Emerald Casino, Inc.)
Opinion of the Court
This dispute relates to a money judgment the court previously entered against the Estate of Kevin Flynn, a former CEO of the now-bankrupt Emerald Casino, Inc. Frances Gecker, the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee, has moved to compel turnover of certain assets in satisfaction of the judgment. Susan Flynn, Kevin Flynn's surviving *730spouse, objects to the motion, arguing that the "probate exception" to federal subject matter jurisdiction precludes this court from deciding whether the assets must be turned over to the Trustee. As explained below, the court concludes that the probate exception does not apply here, and therefore overrules Ms. Flynn's jurisdictional objection. Because the Trustee has not shown that the assets are in fact the property of Kevin Flynn's estate, however, the Trustee's motion is denied as well.
BACKGROUND
The full history of this case is long and tortuous, and is available to the interested reader in the court's September 30, 2014 Memorandum Opinion and Order. See In re Emerald Casino, Inc. ,
Kevin Flynn was an investor in, and later the CEO of, Emerald Casino, a company formed to operate a casino in Illinois. In 1999, Flynn and his associates successfully lobbied the Illinois legislature to amend the Illinois Riverboat Gambling Act, thereby making it possible for them to relocate their operating license from an unprofitable location on waterfront property near the Iowa border to the Village of Rosemont. The plan quickly ran into opposition from officials at the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB), who cited Emerald's managers for various regulatory violations and ultimately voted to revoke Emerald's license in January 2001. The following year, Emerald's creditors forced the company into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. The action was converted to a Chapter 11 proceeding in September 2002, and back to a Chapter 7 proceeding in March 2008. See generally In re Emerald Casino ,
As early as 2003, Emerald's creditors considered the possibility of filing derivative claims against Flynn and his fellow corporate officers based on their actions leading to the revocation of Emerald's license.
On January 9, 2009, while the Trustee's suit against Kevin Flynn was pending, LKQ Corporation
Following Kevin Flynn's death, the Trustee substituted his estate as a defendant in the litigation before this court.
Kevin Flynn's estate turned out to be judgment proof-at least according to the Inventory and the First and Final Account that Susan Flynn filed with the probate court in June 2014. (See Inventory, Ex. A to Flynn Decl.; First and Final Account, Ex. B to Flynn Decl.) The Trustee suspects that certain of Mr. Flynn's assets might be located elsewhere, and has issued citations to discover assets to numerous individuals and institutions-including to Susan Flynn in both her individual capacity and as trustee of a trust. In re Emerald Casino ,
On August 11, 2017, the Trustee filed a motion to compel Susan Flynn to turn over the LKQ stock options and RSUs or their cash equivalent. (Turnover Mot. 3.)
DISCUSSION
I. Subject matter jurisdiction
Ms. Flynn contends that this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction based on the probate exception to federal jurisdiction. That exception is rooted in the Judiciary Act of 1789, which sets limits on the equity jurisdiction it confers on the federal courts. See Marshall v. Marshall ,
This court has already addressed the probate exception's application in this case. See In re Emerald Casino, Inc. ,
The Trustee argues that the LKQ stock options and RSUs "w[ere] never part of Kevin Flynn's probate estate" to begin with. (Trustee's Reply in Supp. of Mot. to Compel [601], at 2.) Therefore, she suggests, the probate exception does not prevent the court from ordering those assets turned over in satisfaction of the judgment. (Id. ) According to the Trustee, these assets are not part of the estate because the "payable on death" language used to describe the LKQ stock on the 2013 Tax Return "is consistent with an attempt to register a security in beneficiary form" pursuant to the Illinois Uniform Transfer on Death (TOD) Security Registration Act. (Turnover Mot. 4.) That statute provides, in relevant part, that a security registered in beneficiary form "passes to the beneficiary or beneficiaries who survive all owners," 815 ILCS 10/7, and that the resulting transfer of ownership is non-testamentary in nature.
Ms. Flynn agrees that she became the owner of these assets at Kevin Flynn's death. (Jurisdictional Obj. 6.) Nevertheless, she contends, the probate exception prevents this court from deciding whether these assets are available to satisfy the judgment, because doing so "would operate to deprive the probate court of its jurisdiction to allocate the Estate's administrative expenses to that non-probate property." (Id. at 6.)
In support of this argument, Ms. Flynn cites two cases in which courts held that Illinois law permits the "equitable apportionment" of certain estate liabilities between probate and non-probate assets alike. See Roe v. Farrell's Estate ,
Ms. Flynn also finds support for her position in Duffy v. Duffy , No. 05C3217,
Regardless of whether Duffy was rightly decided, it is distinguishable from the case now before the court. Duffy involved the removal of a state probate proceeding to federal court. The state probate court was already exercising in rem jurisdiction over the decedent's estate when the federal action was initiated, and the questions raised in the dispute would have required the federal court to interpret the decedent's will. Here, by contrast, there is no need for this court to interpret Kevin Flynn's will to resolve the question of whether the LKQ stock options and RSUs are available to satisfy the Trustee's judgment. The probate court, moreover, has deferred consideration of whether to take custody of the LKQ stock options and RSUs. Even if it hadn't, the probate proceeding was opened long after this action was filed in federal court, and the Trustee filed her turnover motion nearly a month before Susan Flynn petitioned the probate court to take custody over those assets for the purpose of apportioning her administrative expenses and attorney fees. These differences in the procedural history of the cases are critical, as "the probate exception does not divest the federal courts of subject matter jurisdiction unless a probate court is already exercising in rem jurisdiction over the property at the time that the plaintiff files her case in federal court. " Chevalier v. Estate of Barnhart ,
*735Because the LKQ stock options and RSUs the Trustee seeks are not, and never have been, in the custody of the probate court, the probate exception does not deprive this court of subject matter jurisdiction.
II. Turnover motion
In post-judgment collection proceedings, district courts generally must "follow the law of supplementary proceedings of the state in which they sit." Laborers' Pension Fund v. Pavement Maintenance, Inc. ,
The Trustee here argues that the supplemental proceedings statute and the Uniform TOD Security Registration Act together permit the court to order Ms. Flynn to turn over the LKQ stock options and RSUs. "There is no substantial dispute that Kevin Flynn held 'title or right of possession' " to these assets at the time of his death, the Trustee's argument begins. (Turnover Mot. 4.) "Clearly," the Trustee continues, "judgment creditors have the right to satisfy their judgments with the debtor's stock options and restricted stock units." (Trustee's Reply 9 (citing Bear, Stearns & Co. v. Sitlington ,
The court is not persuaded by this reasoning. The Trustee has not accounted for the fact that neither Kevin Flynn nor his estate owned the options and restricted share units at the time of the judgment. Those assets passed to Susan Flynn immediately *736upon Kevin's death in August 2013-more than a year before the court issued its decision regarding liability, and nearly two and a half years before the court entered the judgment the Trustee now seeks to enforce. (See Judgment Order of Jan. 16, 2016 [401].) The fact that the Illinois Uniform TOD Security Registration Act does not "limit ... the rights of creditors of security owners against beneficiaries" is irrelevant where, as here, the creditor (that is, the Trustee) has not shown that she has any claim against the beneficiary of the registration (i.e., Susan Flynn) in the first place. 815 ILCS 10/9(b).
The Trustee attempts to escape this result by pointing out that the death of a judgment debtor while proceedings are pending does not always prevent a court from ordering the turnover of assets that the judgment debtor transferred to a third party before judgment was entered against him. (See Trustee's Resp. to Sur-Reply [621], at 2.) True enough. Where, for example, a judgment debtor transfers assets to another "with the actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud any creditor of the debtor," Illinois law permits the creditor to collect those assets to satisfy the judgment. 740 ILCS 160/5(a)(1) ; 19A ILL. L. & PRAC. Fraudulent Conveyances § 21 (database updated November 2017) ("A conveyance made in apprehension of future litigation or for the purpose of avoiding collection of damages is fraudulent as to creditors."). But the Trustee here has not alleged that Mr. Flynn's registration of the LKQ stock in beneficiary form constitutes such a fraudulent transfer. Nor has she offered any other rationale for her position that assets owned by someone other than the debtor at the time of the judgment should be made available to the Trustee. The fact that such assets might sometimes be available to satisfy a judgment does not mean that they are always so.
The case cited by the Trustee- Society of Lloyd's v. Estate of McMurray ,
The Trustee urges a broader reading of Society of Lloyd's , whereby virtually any assets that Mr. Flynn owned at the time of his death must become available to satisfy the Trustee's judgment. (See Trustee's Resp. to Sur-Reply 2.) She quotes language from the decision that appears-when taken out of context-to give this court nearly unlimited authority to enforce its judgments by compelling the turnover of assets belonging to parties other than the judgment debtor. See, e.g. , Society of Lloyd's ,
The Trustee in this case has not presented any evidence to suggest that Kevin Flynn similarly intended for the benefits of his Equity Incentive Plan to be used to pay his debts after his death. Nor has she alleged that the registration of the LKQ securities in beneficiary form was a fraudulent attempt to avoid paying future judgment creditors. She has not, in fact, offered any reason why assets owned by someone other than the judgment debtor should be made available to satisfy her judgment. As a result, her turnover motion must be denied.
CONCLUSION
The court concludes that it does have subject matter jurisdiction over the Trustee's turnover motion. That motion [583] is denied because the assets the Trustee seeks were not part of Kevin Flynn's estate at the time of the judgment, and the Trustee has not alleged any basis for invalidating the pre-judgment transfer of those assets to Ms. Flynn.
The parties have not provided any additional information about LKQ Corporation or Flynn's relationship to the company.
Casini is identified in this letter as LKQ's Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Dees is identified only by his affiliation with the law firm McDermott Will & Emery. Without more information, the court presumes Mr. Dees served as counsel to Mr. Flynn's estate or to Ms. Flynn.
Per the terms of two Restricted Stock Unit Agreements provided by Susan Flynn and the Estate of Kevin Flynn, these RSUs were LKQ shares subject to certain terms and conditions, including limitations on the owner's voting rights, entitlement to dividends, and right to assign or otherwise transfer "except by will or the laws of descent and distribution." (Restricted Stock Unit Agreement, Ex. E to Jurisdictional Obj.; Restricted Stock Unit Agreement, Ex. F to Jurisdictional Obj.)
Ms. Flynn has not explained why the stock options and RSUs appear on the tax return but not on the inventory of the estate. Nor does the Trustee suggest that this is significant. As explained further below, the Trustee contends that that the "payable on death" language in the tax return "is consistent with an attempt to register a security in beneficiary form, under Illinois's Uniform TOD [Transfer on Death] Security Registration Act." (Turnover Mot. 4.)
This court withdrew the reference from the Bankruptcy Court in January 2012 and heard evidence at a bench trial that lasted from December 2012 to March 2013. In reEmerald Casino ,
The Trustee originally identified several additional items of property that she contended were available to satisfy the judgment, including certain jewelry, a 2013 Audi Q5, cash, and common stock, collectively valued at $324,820.53. She has since withdrawn her request for the turnover of those items, recognizing that they were included in the Inventory submitted to the probate court. (Trustee's Reply in Supp. of Mot. to Compel [601], at 2 n.1.)
The court recognizes that certain language from its previous decision in this case might suggest a somewhat broader understanding of the probate exception than the one outlined here. "Because of the probate exception's bar against allocating the assets of an estate," this court wrote, "it appears unlikely that this court will be able to award the property to any particular claimant. If the trust or Susan is found to have collectable property because property was transferred fraudulently to avoid the judgment ... the appropriate remedy is for the court to reinstate the property as it was before the transfer was made, which would place it in Kevin's estate." In re Emerald Casino ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN RE: EMERALD CASINO, INC., Debtor Frances Gecker, not individually but as Trustee for Emerald Casino, Inc. v. Estate of Kevin F. Flynn
- Status
- Published