Griswold v. Zeddun

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Wierzbicki owned a 40‐acre Wisconsin farm, where she lived for a time with her three minor children and their father, Griswold. In 2012 Wierzbicki gave Griswold a quitclaim deed to the farm. Fourteen months later she filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy trustee brought an adversary proceeding to avoid the transfer as fraudulent, alleging that Wierzbicki was insolvent at the time of the transfer and that she had not received reasonably equivalent value, 11 U.S.C. 548(a)(1)(B). Wierzbicki and Griswold had been engaged in state court litigation, 2009-2012. Although a state court had dismissed Griswold’s principal appeal, Wierzbicki claims that the quitclaim deed was given in exchange for an end to the litigation. Griswold accepted liability for about $149,000 in debt secured by the property. The bankruptcy judge avoided the transfer. The district court and Seventh Circuit affirmed. The fair market value of the farm was $300,000, so Wierzbicki had equity of approximately $151,000 at the time of the transfer. Griswold’s promise to cease his “meritless appeals” in exchange for that interest had no material value. The benefit of avoiding further family conflict was too “nebulous” to “support a finding of reasonable equivalence” in the bankruptcy context, View "Griswold v. Zeddun" on Justia Law