From the Editor – Property of Estate and Exemptions • NACTT Academy

From the Editor – Property of Estate and Exemptions

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Debtor-husband not entitled to wildcard exemption in inheritance of debtor-wife. The Chapter 7 debtor-husband had no separate property interest in an inheritance received by his debtor-wife, rejecting the argument that the husband had an exemptible property interest based on equitable distribution rights that could be asserted in an unfiled divorce proceeding or probate. Under the majority view, “a spouse has no present property interest in the separate property of the other spouse unless and until the contingency occurs.” Moreover, § 541(a)(5) defines property of . . .

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