Bird v. White (In re White)
Bird v. White (In re White)
Opinion of the Court
I. Introduction
Over twenty years ago, Theodore William White, Jr. (the "Debtor") was accused, *887arrested, and incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. Approximately seven years after his initial arrest, and after multiple proceedings, trials, and appeals, the Debtor was exonerated on all charges and released from prison. Shortly thereafter, the Debtor commenced legal proceedings against those who had wrongfully accused him. On August 28, 2008, the Debtor obtained a $15 million judgment against his accusers. On September 29, 2008, the Debtor and his wife executed a promissory note directing that upon collection of the judgment, $1 million of its proceeds would be paid to six family members, including his parents who are the Defendants in this proceeding. The stated consideration for the $1 million note was the emotional and financial support provided to the Debtor by his family during his incarceration and legal proceedings. In July of 2011, after three more years of legal proceedings, the Debtor received a payment of $15.5 million in satisfaction of the judgment. At the same time, and pursuant to the note, the Debtor directed that $1 million of the judgment proceeds be transferred to the Defendants.
Almost three years later on May 30, 2014, the Debtor and his spouse, Porscha Shiroma, filed a voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. J. Kevin Bird was appointed as the Chapter 7 Trustee ("Trustee"). Two years later, on May 30, 2016, the Trustee filed this adversary proceeding against Ryan B. White, in his representative capacity as personal representative of the estate of Theodore W. White, Sr., deceased, and Myrna Y. White (the "Defendants").
The matter before the Court is the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment ("MFSJ"), which argues that the $1 million transfer is not avoidable because the Debtors received reasonably equivalent value.
II. Jurisdiction and Venue
The Court has jurisdiction over this contested matter pursuant to
III. Undisputed Facts
Defendants' MFSJ centers on whether the Debtors received "reasonably equivalent value in exchange" for the transfer of $1 million to Defendants. The following undisputed facts
*888MFSJ,
1. On August 28, 2008, Debtor Theodore White obtained a judgment for $15 million arising from his wrongful arrest, prosecution, and incarceration (the "Judgment").
2. On September 29, 2008, Debtors executed a promissory note in Lawrence County, Missouri ("Note").
3. The Note names six payees consisting of the Defendants Theodore W. White, Sr., and Myrna White (the Debtor's parents); Ryan and Tiffany White (the Debtor's brother and sister-in-law); and Tiffany and Michael Means (the Debtor's sister and brother-in-law) (collectively the "Payees").
4. The Debtors promised under the Note to pay the six Payees a total of $1 million "share and share alike," but "contingent upon full payment of ... [the Judgment] from any source."
5. The stated consideration for the Note was "the love, support and advancement of the necessary defense funds to Theodore W. White, Jr. [the Debtor] during the time that he was charged, prosecuted and unfairly imprisoned from 1998 to 2005."
6. None of the Payees assigned their interests in the Note to the Defendants.
7. On July 21, 2011, the Debtor received $15.5 million in settlement of the Judgment.
8. On July 22, 2011, the Debtor caused $1 million of the Judgment proceeds to be transferred to the Defendants (the "$1 Million Transfer").
9. All Payees agree that the Debtor's $1 Million Transfer to the Defendants was in full satisfaction of the Note.
10. On May 30, 2014, the Debtors filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.
11. On May 30, 2016, the Trustee filed a complaint against the Defendants to recover the $1 Million Transfer as a constructively fraudulent transfer under the UFTA.
IV. Summary Judgment Standard
Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a), as incorporated into bankruptcy proceedings by Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7056, the Court is required to "grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Substantive law determines which facts are material and which are not. "Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment."
The moving party bears the burden to show that it is entitled to summary judgment,
When considering a motion for summary judgment, the Court views the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party,
V. Summary of the Issues
The Trustee's complaint seeks to recover the $1 Million Transfer from Defendants based on the allegation that the Debtors did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange for such transfer. Defendants counter that the $1 Million Transfer is not avoidable because it fully satisfied the legally-enforceable Note for $1 million.
The Trustee now alleges that the Note was not enforceable for want of consideration. The Trustee also alleges that the Defendants were overpaid because the Note's "share-and-share alike" provision gave each Payee a one-sixth interest in the $1 Million Transfer.
Therefore, the core issues are whether the Note constituted a legally-enforceable, antecedent debt of the Debtors, and whether the $1 Million Transfer was in full satisfaction of the Note.
VI. Analysis
The Trustee's Complaint alleges that the Debtors "did not receive equivalent value in exchange for the" $1 Million Transfer.
*890A. Was the Note a Valid and Legally-Enforceable Obligation of the Debtors?
A dispositive issue in this case is whether the Note was valid and enforceable at the time of the $1 Million Transfer. While not alleged in his Complaint, the Trustee has now asserted that the "Note was not enforceable for lack of consideration."
Specifically, the Trustee is proceeding under § 544, which means he steps "into the shoes of an actual creditor who has standing to avoid the transfer under the applicable state law."
In the similar case of Cox v. Nostaw, Inc. , the trustee sought to recover $900,000 in note payments as constructively fraudulent transfers.
On a motion for reconsideration, the bankruptcy court augmented its ruling by noting that because the statute of limitations *891to avoid the note had expired, the trustee's only authority to attack the note for lack of consideration was to step into the debtor's shoes under § 541 (as opposed to stepping into a creditor's shoes under § 544 ).
On appeal, the district court agreed that under such facts, the avoidance of the note was essential to the trustee's cause of action to recover the $900,000 in payments as constructively fraudulent transfers:
It is widely recognized by courts that where a debtor makes prepetition payments on a contractual debt, in order for those payments to be avoidable as constructively fraudulent, it is necessary for the trustee to first avoid the underlying contract as a fraudulently incurred obligation. Absent avoidance of the underlying contract, the payments discharge the obligation and are, by definition, for reasonably equivalent value.35
In other words, if payments result in a commensurate, dollar-for-dollar satisfaction of a note, the note itself must either be avoided or found to be legally unenforceable before a trustee in bankruptcy can avoid such payments as constructively fraudulent transfers.
For these reasons, the Court finds that the Note cannot be avoided by the Trustee, and that it was otherwise a valid and legally-enforceable obligation of the Debtors at the time of the $1 Million Transfer.
B. The Note is Supported by Adequate Consideration Under Missouri Law.
Even if the Trustee was not barred from challenging the Note's adequacy of consideration, *892the Debtors received legally-sufficient consideration for the Note to be valid under Missouri law. The Note asserts three forms of consideration: "love, support, and advancement of the necessary defense funds to Theodore W. White Jr. [the Debtor] during the time that he was charged, prosecuted, and unfairly imprisoned from 1998 to 2005."
Under Missouri law, consideration on a note "may consist of some benefit to one party or some detriment to the other."
A recitation of the consideration on which an agreement is based is prima facie evidence that sufficient consideration existed. Furthermore, all written promises to pay another a specific sum of money, signed by the promisor, import a consideration. Under both theories, a presumption is created that consideration exists, which must be overcome by evidence to the contrary.42
This import of consideration occurs regardless of whether the Note was negotiable or non-negotiable.
The Trustee argues that "[l]ove, affection, and moral support will not suffice as consideration for a contractual promise,"
Further, the Note contains an implicit forbearance agreement by stating that "payment pursuant to the terms of this note is contingent upon full payment of ...
*893the judgment of $14,000,000."
The Trustee makes other arguments under pre-UCC Missouri law because the Note is non-negotiable.
The Trustee makes other arguments on this point, but he has stretched his lack-of-consideration fight far beyond its reasonable application.
C. Did the Debtors Receive Equivalent Value in Exchange for the $1 Million Transfer?
The next issue is whether the Debtors received equivalent value in exchange for the $1 Million Transfer. The Trustee argues under Missouri law that with the Note's "share-and-share-alike" provision, each of the six Payees was entitled to one-sixth of the $1 Million Transfer.
*894This argument might be relevant if the other Payees were still making a claim under the Note - but they are not. They have all definitively stated by declaration that they deemed the $1 Million Transfer to the Defendants to be in full satisfaction of Note.
VII. Conclusion
The Court finds that the Trustee's authority to challenge the Note for lack of consideration under § 544 and the UFTA is time-barred. Moreover, the Court finds that the Trustee would likewise be barred from any challenge to the Note under § 541 due to the Debtors' pre-petition waiver of any defenses when he paid it. Even if the Trustee could contest the Note's adequacy of consideration, the Court has found under Missouri law that it is supported by adequate consideration arising from the Defendants' advance of monies to fund the Debtor's legal defense and prosecution for his wrongful incarceration. The Court finds further consideration from the Payees' three-year forbearance in collecting on the Note until the Debtor recovered on the Judgment. Thus, the Court finds no genuine issue of material fact that at the time of the $1 Million Transfer, the Note was a valid and legally-enforceable obligation of the Debtors.
The Court further finds that all Payees deemed the $1 Million Transfer to be in full satisfaction of the Note, and thus the Debtor's payment of $1 million to the Defendants represented a dollar-for-dollar reduction of the Note. Consequently, the Court finds that the Debtors received reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the $1 Million Transfer. Because reasonably equivalent value is an absolute defense to the Trustee's constructively fraudulent transfer action, the Court grants the Defendants' MFSJ. The Trustee's cause of action to avoid and recover the $1,500 the Debtor transferred to Mrs. White within one year of the bankruptcy filing remains at issue.
The Court will enter an Order consistent with the rulings set forth in this Memorandum Decision.
Dkt. No. 1. Hereinafter, all references to the docket will be in Case No. 16-02090 unless otherwise specified.
Dkt. No. 57.
This statement includes facts that the parties may have objected to, but that the Court determines are not in material dispute.
Dkt. No. 57.
Dkt. No. 65; Dkt. No. 66.
Dkt. No. 67; Dkt. No. 68
See Note, Dkt. No. 57, Ex. 1.
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. ,
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett ,
Murray v. City of Tahlequah, Okla. ,
Reed v. Bennett ,
Concrete Works of Colorado, Inc. v. City & County of Denver ,
Celotex , 477 U.S. at 324,
Schrock v. Wyeth, Inc. ,
Nat'l Am. Ins. Co. v. Am. Re-Insurance Co. ,
Dkt. No. 1 at ¶ 18.
Klein v. Michelle Tuprin & Assocs., P.C. , No. 2:14-cv-00302-RJS-PMW,
Dkt. No. 65, p. 13.
Montoya v. Tobey (In re Ewbank) ,
...
(2) under Subsection 25-6-5(1)(b) or 25-6-6(1), within four years after the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred.
See Montoya v. Tobey (In re Ewbank) ,
Cox v. Nostaw, Inc. (In re Cent. Ill. Energy Coop.) ,
Id. at 792.
Id. at 795 (citation omitted).
Klein v. Michelle Tuprin & Assocs., P.C. , No. 2:14-cv-00302-RJS-PMW,
See 5 Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 541.07 (16th 2018) ("In all cases where the trustee seeks to assert or enforce the debtor's right of action against another, the trustee generally stands in the debtor's shoes regarding defenses to the action.").
Note, Dkt. No. 57, Ex. 1 at ¶ 4.
Brown v. Mustion ,
Sverdrup Corp. v. Politis ,
Hammons v. Ehney ,
See Lowrey v. Danforth ,
See Baker v. Bristol Care, Inc. ,
See Dkt. No. 65, p. 5.
Rose v. Howard ,
The Judgment was for $14 million in general damages and $1 million in punitive damages. The Note's repayment was thus contingent upon payment of only the general damage award.
Dkt. No. 68.
Dkt. No. 65, at p. 14.
See also
The Trustee asserts that Defendants must prove that they actually advanced defense funds to the Debtor, and that the Note extinguished the antecedent debt of the advanced defense funds. For the reasons stated, the Court declines to consider these additional arguments.
See Rotert v. Faulkner ,
Dkt. No. 68, Ex. 3 at ¶¶ 18 - 25. See also Declarations of Ryan White, Tiffany White, Tiffany Means, and Michael Means (stating that they considered the $1 Million Transfer to be in full and complete satisfaction of any obligation owed to them by the Debtors under the Note).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN RE: Theodore William WHITE, Jr. and Porscha Shiroma, Debtors. J. Kevin Bird, Chapter 7 Trustee v. Ryan B. White, as personal representative of the estate of Theodore W. White, Sr., and Myrna Y. White
- Status
- Published