Jones v. Jones
Jones v. Jones
Opinion of the Court
Defendant appeals from a summary judgment entered against her in this quiet title action. We reverse.
Defendant
Plaintiff moved for summary judgment, arguing that, because of the transfer of ownership of the property to her in 1987, as a matter of law, Jones had no interest in the real property to which the lien could attach when it was filed in 1988. She asserted that the validity of that transfer was decided in a bankruptcy case involving Jones,
Defendant’s main argument is that issue preclusion does not bar her from asserting the validity of her lien, because the bankruptcy court did not decide that issue. We agree. The memorandum issued by the bankruptcy court does not explicitly decide whether Jones transferred his property interest to plaintiff in 1987 and, thus, whether Jones had any interest in the property to which defendant’s judgment lien could attach. It appears that the bankruptcy court did not need to decide whether a transfer had been made, but that it merely decided whether Jones was entitled to the relief he sought, assuming that the transfer had been made. Because plaintiff has not shown that the issue here was decided in the
Plaintiff does not argue that she is entitled to summary judgment on any basis other than issue preclusion. The trial court erred in granting summary judgment.
Reversed and remanded.
After plaintiff filed this action, defendant died. Her personal representative has been substituted as defendant.
Jones filed for bankruptcy in 1990. He filed a motion to avoid defendant’s lien on the property under 11 USC § 522(f), which the bankruptcy court denied.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.