Keils v. VillarrealKeils v. Villarreal
The following constitutes the ruling of the court and has the force and effect therein described.
In re:
MANUEL VILLARREAL,
Debtor.
Chapter 7
Case No. 23-31257-MVL7
ADRIANE COLLEEN KEILS
Plaintiff,
v.
MANUEL VILLARREAL
Defendant.
Adv. Pro. No. 23-03079-MVL
ORDER DECLARING DOMESTIC SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS NON-DISCHARGEABLE AND DENYING DEBTOR‘S DISCHARGE
This Court issues this Order containing its findings of fact and conclusions of law with regard to the Complaint filed by Plaintiff Adriane Colleen Keils against Defendant Manuel Villarreal (the “Defendant” or the “Debtor“). The trial was held on August 16, 2024. At the trial, both Ms. Keils and Mr. Villarreal testified. Upon conclusion of the trial, the matter was taken under advisement.
The Court‘s findings and conclusions are based upon the record before the Court and are issued under
For the reasons that follow, the Court GRANTS the Plaintiff‘s causes of action under
FINDINGS OF FACT
On June 13, 2022, an Agreed Final Decree of Divorce (the “Decree of Divorce“) was entered by the 442nd Judicial District
On March 15, 2023, the State Court entered an Order Holding Respondent in Contempt for Failure to Pay Child Support, Granting Judgment for Arrearages, and Suspending Commitment (“Contempt Order“). Plaintiff‘s Exh. 7. In the Contempt Order, the State Court Ordered the Defendant to pay the Plaintiff:
- Arrearages of child support in the amount of $2,116.00 (Id. at 22-23).
- Award of attorney‘s fees as child support in the amount of $8,748.00 (Id. at 23).
- Proceeds from an insurance check from Allstate in the amount of $226.30. (Id. at 21).
- Proceeds from a check from the U.S. Treasury for a child tax credit in the amount of $500.00 (Id.).
- Proceeds from a check from Homeowner‘s Insurance of America in the amount of $957.50 (Id.).
- Proceeds from a check from Carrington in the amount of $470.38 (Id.).
- Reimbursement for water and electric bills owed to Ms. Keils in the amount of $246.75 (Id. at 22).
On June 15, 2023 (the “Petition Date“), Defendant voluntarily filed a petition for bankruptcy pursuant to Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.4 Plaintiff‘s Exh. 3. On the Petition Date, the Debtor also filed his Official Form 106 (the “Schedules“). In the Debtor‘s Schedule A/B, the Debtor claims he held $5.65 in a checking account and $4,869.00 in a savings account at the time of filing. Id. at 12. The Debtor claimed on his Schedule E that he owed Ms. Keils $2,100.00 in priority claims for domestic support obligations and $2,676.005 in unsecured claims. Id. at 25-27. The Debtor also lists a debt of $2,100.00 to Texas Child Support on his Schedule E. Id. at 25. The Debtor testified that unsecured claims include the $226.00 debt related to the Allstate Insurance check and the $500.00 debt related to the U.S. Treasury check addressed in the Contempt Order. There is no clear identifiable line item on the Debtor‘s Schedule E that directly correlates with the award of attorney‘s fees to Ms. Keils. See id. at 25-40.
In his Schedule I, the Debtor claims that he earned $9,542.74 per month through
On the Petition Date, the Debtor also filed his required Schedules and Statement of Financial Affairs (“SOFA“). Id. at 52. The Debtor‘s SOFA indicates that the Debtor made $33,470.81 from January 1, 2024, until the Petition Date. Id. at 53. The Debtor did not list the sale of his marital home on his SOFA in Part 7. Id. at 58. The Debtor also does not list a check that the Debtor held for his son from a personal injury lawsuit on his SOFA in Part 9. Id. at 60. The Debtor‘s Schedules, SOFA, and Form 122A-1 have never been amended.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Jurisdiction
This Court has jurisdiction over this case and this proceeding under
Discharge
The Bankruptcy Code requires a discharge be granted to a debtor unless one of the statutory grounds for denial of discharge is proven.
A creditor objecting to the debtor‘s discharge bears the initial burden of production to present evidence that the debtor made false statements. Id. (citing
The Plaintiff objects to the discharge of the debt owed specifically to the Plaintiff under
Section 523(a)(5)
The Plaintiff brings a cause of action under
Section 727(a)(2)(A)
The Plaintiff objects to the Debtor‘s discharge under
Ms. Keils claims that Mr. Villarreal disposed of significant funds received by him in the divorce, most specifically the $47,000 that Mr. Villarreal received from the sale of their marital home. The home was sold on June 30, 2022, and Mr. Villarreal filed for bankruptcy on June 15, 2023. Therefore, any transfer or concealment of the funds that Mr. Villarreal received from the sale of the marital home belonged to the Debtor and would have been transferred/concealed within a year of the Petition Date, thus satisfying the second and third elements of a section
The Court then turns to the first element: whether the Debtor transferred or concealed any of the proceeds from the sale of the martial home. A “transfer” is defined in the Code as:
(a) the creation of a lien;
(b) the retention of title as a security interest;
(c) the foreclosure of a debtor‘s equity of redemption; or
(d) each mode, direct or indirect, absolute or conditional, voluntary or involuntary, of disposing of or parting with property or an interest in property.
The final element of a section
The Fifth Circuit has identified the following factors to aid courts in processing the circumstantial evidence of actual intent:
(1) the lack of inadequacy of consideration; (2) the family, friendship, or close associate relationship between the parties; (3) the retention of possession, benefit or use of the property in question; (4) the financial condition of the party sought to be charged both before and after the transaction in question; (5) the existence or cumulative effect of the pattern or series of transactions or course of conduct after the incurring of debt, onset of financial difficulties, or pendency or threat of suits by creditors; and (6) the general chronology of the events and transactions under inquiry.
Id. All the factors of fraud do not have to be present to support the finding of fraudulent intent; however, evidence of only one factor may not be dispositive. Hong Kong Dev. Co. v. Phan (In re Phan), 607 B.R. 598, 609 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. 2019). Constructive intent is inadequate; proof of actual intent—which can be inferred from Debtor‘s actions and circumstantial evidence—is necessary. Id. Courts may deduce fraudulent intent from all of the facts and circumstances of a case. Id. If the plaintiff can demonstrate these facts, the burden shifts to the debtor to prove that he lacked fraudulent intent. Id.
Here, there is no evidence that the Debtor lacked consideration for his spending, that there was a transfer to a relative, or that the Debtor retained the proceeds that were spent. There is also no evidence that the Debtor purposefully depleted the funds he received from the sale of the home in order to change his financial condition. After a review of all the factors, the Court finds that the Debtor lacked the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors. As such, the Court finds that there lacks sufficient grounds to deny the Debtor a discharge under
Section 727(a)(3)
The Plaintiff objects to the Debtor‘s discharge under
As part of the
Here, the Plaintiff failed to meet her initial burden of proof. There was no evidence that the Debtor failed to keep appropriate books and records. The Plaintiff never requested the Debtor‘s financial books and records through discovery. There was also no evidence adduced that the Debtor refused to give the Plaintiff his financial records. Because the Plaintiff fails to meet her initial burden, the Court cannot conclude the Debtor should be denied a discharge under
Section 727(a)(4)
The Plaintiff objects to the Debtor‘s discharge under
The Plaintiff alleges that the Debtor made false oaths in his Schedules, SOFA, and his Official Form 122A-1, including: (1) not listing all of the debt owed to Ms. Keils on his Schedules, specifically the award of attorney‘s fees; (2) inaccuracies with regard to the Debtor‘s income and employment on the Debtor‘s Schedule I; (3) not listing a check held by the Debtor for the benefit of his son on the Debtor‘s SOFA; (4) not listing the sale of the marital home as a sale of property within the previous two years on the Debtor‘s SOFA; and (5) inaccuracies with regard to the Debtor‘s monthly income for the six months prior to filing on the Debtor‘s Form 122A-1. The Debtor does not dispute that he made the statements under oath concerning these areas and that the statements are false. However, the Debtor claims that the omission of certain information was accidental and that the inaccuracies are due to misunderstandings in the paperwork and that he did not act with fraudulent intent. The
With specific regard to materiality, the Fifth Circuit has been clear that the “issue is not merely the value of the omitted assets or whether the omission was detrimental to creditors.” Beaubouef, 966 F.2d at 178. Rather, the Court must focus on whether the false oath “bears a relationship to the bankrupt‘s business transactions or estate, or concerns the discovery of assets, business dealings, or the existence and disposition of his property.” Id. Here, the missing and inaccurate information on the Debtor‘s Schedules, SOFA, and Official Form 112A-1 is material because it deals with the existence and disposition of his property.
As for the requisite intent, under
The schedules and statements submitted in a bankruptcy case are signed under oath, and while they are not required to be perfect, the Fifth Circuit has made it clear that debtors are not entitled to a discharge where they make statements under oath with “reckless indifference to the truth.” Sholdra v. Chilmark Financial LLP (In re Sholdra), 249 F.3d 380, 382 (5th Cir. 2001). A showing of reckless indifference to the truth in filling out a debtor‘s schedules and statements is equivalent to showing the requisite fraudulent intent to deceive sufficient to bar a discharge under
This cause of action is a very close call. In this case, the Court observed the Debtor during a live, in-person trial, and heard him testify. The Court found the testimony of the Debtor to be credible. The Court is satisfied that the Debtor possessed no actual intent to defraud, delay or hinder the creditors. The Court also concludes that the Debtor‘s discharge should not be denied in this instance based on a reckless indifference to the truth. Here, the inaccuracies and false statements in the Debtor‘s bankruptcy paperwork
Section 727(a)(5)
Finally, the Plaintiff argues that the Court should deny the Debtor a discharge under
What constitutes a “satisfactory” explanation for the reduction of assets has not been definitively defined, but a lack of wisdom in the debtor‘s expenditures, standing alone, is not grounds for denial of a discharge. Id. The proper focus under
Here again, the Plaintiff relies on the evidence that the Debtor received at least $47,000 from the sale of the marital home within the year preceding the bankruptcy filing. The Plaintiff has proven sufficient evidence of loss, showing that the Debtor represented on his Schedules that he only had $5.65 in a checking account and $4,869.00 in a savings account as of the Petition Date. Plaintiff‘s Exh. 3 at 12. The Debtor testified that he paid off some of his minor debts using the proceeds from the sale of the home. The Debtor further testified that after his divorce he lived lavishly and spent the money on dinners and doing things with friends. The Debtor characterized his spending as “someone who won the lottery and just went crazy.” The Debtor presented no evidence besides his testimony about how he spent the sale proceeds irresponsibly.
Whereas the
CONCLUSION
Having found there are grounds under
Additionally, as the Debtor stipulated, the Court finds that there are grounds to declare the debts owed to Ms. Keils with regard to the Decree of Divorce and the Contempt Order to be nondischargeable domestic support obligations pursuant to
The Court directs counsel for the Plaintiff to prepare a form of judgment in conformance with this Order.
### END OF ORDER ###