In re Jesslyn Anderson, ___F3d___ (9th Circuit Court of Appeals 3/1/21), appeal number 20-60014
Can be thought of as standing for the proposition that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a “snapshot” of the debtor’s situation on the day the debtor files the debtor’s chapter 7 bankruptcy case, and that things that happen AFTER the debtor files the debtor’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case do not matter.
Ruling:
A chapter 7 debtor retains her Washington state homestead exemption even if she moves out of the house after the filing of the bankruptcy case and does not re-occupy or file a declaration of abandonment within six months after vacating the house. Chapter 7 involves a “snapshot” of the debtor’s assets, liabilities, and rights to exemption, on the filing date. The debtor’s subsequent actions generally do not affect that snapshot or the debtor’s rights. Per curiam, the Ninth Circuit panel affirmed, adopted and republished the March 23, 2020, decision of the BAP in case number WW-19-1224-LBG.
Procedural context:
The chapter 7 trustee objected to the debtor’s homestead exemption because the debtor moved out of her house after filing bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court denied the trustee’s objection. The trustee appealed to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, which affirmed the bankruptcy court.
The trustee appealed again.
Facts:
Jesslyn Renee Anderson filed a chapter 7 petition in December 2017. In her schedules, Anderson declared that she owned a 15% interest in a house that she co-owned with her parents. She scheduled the value of her interest at $90,000 and declared a homestead exemption of $125,000 on her interest under RCW §§ 6.13.010, 6.13.020, and 6.13.030. After she filed her bankruptcy case, Anderson got married and moved out of the house to live with her spouse. The chapter 7 trustee objected to the exemption, arguing that Anderson did not intend to live in the house when she filed her bankruptcy petition and that, under Washington law, she had abandoned the her interest in the house post-petition by failing to reside there for six months or to file a declaration of homestead.
Question: this case was about a homestead exemption claimed under Washington state law. Would this case have come out the same way if the homestead exemption had been claimed by a California Chapter 7 debtor, on a house in California, where the homestead exemption was claimed under California state law (CA CC 704.703)? Different states have differently worded homestead exemption laws.