United States Second Circuit

Reversal of bankruptcy court decision, and judgment in favor of defendant wife -- which ruled that her rights to marital property vested when the state court awarded assets to her, before the husband filed his Chapter 7 petition -- are vacated as: 1) an equitable distribution award is a remedy under New York law, and the enforcement of that remedy is no different than the enforcement of any other judgment; 2) New York adheres to the rule that the priority of judgment creditors is determined on the basis of order in which judgments are docketed or executed; 3) 11 U.S.C. section 544 gives the bankruptcy trustee rights of a hypothetical perfected judgment lien creditor as of the petition date; and 4) while the Decision After Inquest determined the rights to the marital assets between husband and wife, it did not determine the rights to the assets between wife and all other judgment lien creditors.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/06/2006
• Published 11/06/2006

Judges

• PER CURIAM:, Before:  B.D. PARKER, WESLEY and HALL, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Bruce Weiner, Rosenberg, Musso & Weiner, LLP, Brooklyn, New York, for Petitioner-Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• David J. Doyaga, Doyaga & Schaefer, Brooklyn, New York, for Defendant-Appellee.