Debtor seeks an order from this Court approving the settlement of a pre-petition claim and directing the immediate disbursal of exempt portions of the settlement proceeds. For the reasons stated and on the terms specified in this opinion, Debtor's motion will be denied.
Debtor seeks approval of the settlement of a pre-petition personal injury claim.
The funds are currently being held by Mr. Harris Odell, Debtor's attorney in the personal injury suit. The distribution to Debtor is based on Debtor's asserted entitlement to exemptions provided by law. Debtor has failed to list both the settled lawsuit as well as these claimed exemptions in his bankruptcy schedules. A debtor must claim assets as exempt in the schedules if the debtor wishes to assert any exemptions in the bankruptcy case. However, the fact that Debtor has both failed to list the personal injury lawsuit as an asset of the estate and failed to claim the proceeds as exempt is not fatal to Debtor's motion.