Second Circuit – Bankruptcy: DuVall v. County of Ontario

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United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Bankruptcy

Exemptions to bankruptcy estate – Failure to object

DuVall v. County of Ontario

21-2917-bk

Judges Calabresi, Lohier, and Kahn

Background: After the county foreclosed on her property due to unpaid real estate taxes, the plaintiff filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. She disclosed that she is the beneficiary of an annuity but claimed it was exempt from the bankruptcy estate. The county never objected. She then filed for an adversary proceeding against the county seeking to avoid the tax foreclosure as a constructively fraudulent conveyance. After the bankruptcy court found the annuity was exempt from bankruptcy and that the plaintiff was insolvent at the time of the foreclosure, the county appealed from a ruling that it was subject to the deadline to object.

Ruling: The Second Circuit affirmed. The court held that because the annuity was found to be exempt from the bankruptcy estate there was no reason for the county to introduce evidence regarding its value.

Zachary J. Pike, of the Legal Aid Society of Rochester, for the plaintiff-appellee; Jason S. DiPonzio for the defendant-appellant.

Oral argument audio