Bankr. No.:
01-50504
Chapter:
7
Date of Decision:
January 2, 2002
Issue:
Whether a debtor could declare a homestead exemption in the marital home where she did not live in it on the petition date, where the debtor had vacated the marital home upon separation from her husband more than a year before she filed a Chapter 7 petition in bankruptcy, where she had lived separately since then and had no plans to reconcile, and where she only intended to return to the marital home if her husband vacated it or if he or their adult son needed her care, circumstances that did not presently exist and were not anticipated?
Ruling:
The debtor’s claimed homestead interest in the marital home was denied since she did not live there on the petition date and did not have any present intention to return. The ruling had no impact on the debtor’s estranged husband’s ability to protect his homestead interest.
Full Bankruptcy Court Decision:
