Bankr. No.:
96-50173
Chapter:
7
Date of Decision:
October 1, 1996
Issue:
Whether the case may be dismissed or whether the debtor-wife only may be dismissed from the case where a post-petition inheritance by the debtor-wife would allow her to pay all her personal debts and some joint debts and where the debtor-husband has substantial personal debts arising from a separate business interest?
Ruling:
The case was not dismissed nor was the debtor-wife only allowed out. Her inheritance, which became property of the estate under ยง 541(a)(5), would not allow all her personal and joint debts to be paid in full so that the joint creditors would be prejudiced. Further, there were no guarantees of how and when she would use the inheritance to pay her creditors. The two debtors' individual bankruptcy estates, however, were deconsolidated since substantive consolidation of the estates was no longer appropriate.
Full Bankruptcy Court Decision:
