Applicable Law Section 547(b) allows a trustee to avoid a transfer of property from a debtor to a creditor on account of an antecedent debt owed by the debtor prior to the transfer, if the transfer was made within ninety days of a debtor s bankruptcy filing, and if at the time of the transfer, the debtor was insolvent. 101(12). Because the agreement between the Debtors and the Defendants was made before the Debtors filed for relief, the court must regard the Defendants as creditors if ...
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Local Written Opinions
The Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan offers a database of opinions for the years 1999 to present, listed by year and judge. For a more detailed search, enter the keyword or case number in the search box above.
Chief Judge Scott W. Dales
Opinion And Order Regarding Plaintiff S Motion For Summary Judgment Present: Honorable Scott W. Dales United States Bankruptcy Judge Plaintiff Kelly M. Hagan, as Chapter 7 Trustee, commenced this fraudulent conveyance proceeding against Defendant Mary Jo Goldstein, the wife of Chapter 7 Debtor Scott M. Goldstein, to avoid and recover $650,000.00 in prepetition transfers. . Because this adversary proceeding seeks to avoid prepetition transfers as fraudulent,...
First, Laura Kelsey ( Dr. Kelsey ) complains that Mr. Fitzgerald committed legal malpractice in connection with his Page 2 of 10 supposed representation of her and her estranged husband, Dan Kelsey, in a specific business transaction. Given the record evidence of a pervasive and long-standing attorney-client relationship between Mr. Fitzgerald and Dr. Kelsey and her husband, it is reasonable to infer for purposes of this Motion only that Mr. Fitzgerald represented Dr. Kelsey in connection ...
The Debtor and her co-Debtor, Brian S. Driesenga, through counsel, disclosed to the Chapter 7 Trustee, Jeff A. Moyer (the Bankruptcy Trustee ), the existence of the Trust and the Debtors contention that Ms. Driesenga s interest as a beneficiary is not included within the property of the estate. The Bankruptcy Trustee takes a different view of Ms. Driesenga s rights under the Trust, and on February 25, 2010 filed a Motion for Turnover of Trust Interest and Proceeds, Life Insurance Interest ...
Order Regarding Defendant S Motion For Partial Summary Judgment Present: Honorable Scott W. Dales United States Bankruptcy Judge This adversary proceeding promises to resolve most of the disputes between the Plaintiff Frontier Energy, Llc ( Frontier or Plaintiff ) and the Defendant Aurora Energy, Ltd. ( Aurora ),1 arising out of, or otherwise related to, a lawsuit that Frontier filed against Aurora in Michigan s Charlevoix County Circuit Court (the ...
Memorandum Of Opinion And Order Present: Honorable Scott W. Dales United States Bankruptcy Judge On August 22, 2007, the court entered an Order confirming the Chapter 13 Plan of Debtors Daniel and Yadira DeAvila (the Debtors ). Nine months later, the Debtors proposed to amend their plan to surrender the mortgaged premises to the Creditor, to reduce plan payments, and to reduce the dividend to unsecured creditors. Their proposed amendment, which provides ...
United States Bankruptcy Court For The Western District Of Michigan In re: James Todd Wierenga and Susan Elizabeth Woody, Debtors, Case No. (Transcript 12-13). At no point in the Transcript, or through other evidence, has the Plaintiff shown that Ms. Woody assisted or otherwise supported Mr. Wierenga in removing the Improvements for sale. (Transcript 11). Furthermore, Mr. Wierenga admitted he knew the Property was owned by the Plaintiff at the time he ...
The court held a trial on May 12, 2010 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, during which Mark Cappetta ( Mr. Cappetta ) and Joleen Christine ( Ms. Christine ) testified. Capp Equities timely filed an adversary proceeding against the Christines under 11 U.S.C. 523(a)(2) on August 18, 2008, claiming that the Christines made fraudulent misrepresentations to induce Capp Equities to purchase the Building. Page 5 of 16 A. Count I -- The Water Bills Capp Equities contends the Christines misrepresented that ...
United States Bankruptcy Court For The Western District Of Michigan Opinion After Remand This matter is before the court on remand from the United States District Court ( District Court ), following the successful appeal by Plaintiff, Chapter 7 Trustee James W. Boyd (the Bankruptcy Trustee ), from the court s judgment entered in favor of James A. Petrie as trustee of the James A. Petrie Trust (the Defendant ). After reaching these conclusions, the District Court vacated...
Memorandum Of Decision And Order Regarding Motion For Reconsideration Present: Honorable Scott W. Dales United States Bankruptcy Judge On May 14, 2010, the court entered its Opinion and Order Regarding Plaintiff Chapter 7 Trustee s Motion for Summary Judgment. Several days later, in conformance with the Opinion, the court entered a judgment avoiding specified transfers that the Debtor made pre-petition to the Defendant and permitting the Trustee to recover ...