Source: http://supreme.nolo.com/us/504/753/case.html
Timestamp: 2020-06-05 03:49:38
Document Index: 5730799

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1125', '§ 1125', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 541', '§ 541', '§ 522', '§ 541', '§ 206', '§ 1003', '§ 1', '§ 541', '§ 522', '§ 522', '§ 522', '§ 1001', '§ 541', '§ 541']

PATTERSON, TRUSTEE v. SHUMATE - 504 U.S. 753 - 1992 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 504 > PATTERSON, TRUSTEE v. SHUMATE 504 U.S. 753 (1992) > Full Text
Creasy terminated and liquidated the Plan, providing full distributions to all participants except Shumate. Patterson
The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed. 943 F.2d 362 (1991). The court relied on its earlier decision in In re Moore, 907 F.2d 1476 (1990), in which another Fourth Circuit panel was described as holding, subsequent to the District Court's decision in the instant case, that "ERISA-qualified plans, which by definition have a nonalienation provision, constitute 'applicable nonbankruptcy law' and contain enforceable restrictions on the transfer of pension interests." 943 F. 2d, at 365. Thus, the Court of
1 Compare In re Harline, 950 F.2d 669 (CAlO 1991) (ERISA antialienation provision constitutes "applicable nonbankruptcy law"), cert. pending, No. 91-1412; Velis v. Kardanis, 949 F.2d 78 (CA3 1991) (same); Shumate v. Patterson, 943 F.2d 362 (CA4 1991) (this case; same); In re Lucas, 924 F.2d 597 (CA6) (same), cert. denied sub nom. Forbes v. Holiday Corp. Savings and Retirement Plan, 500 U. S. 959 (1991); and In re Moore, 907 F.2d 1476 (CA4 1990) (same), with In re Dyke, 943 F.2d 1435 (CA5 1991) (ERISA antialienation provision does not constitute "applicable nonbankruptcy law"); In re Daniel, 771 F.2d 1352 (CA9 1985) (same), cert. denied, 475 U. S. 1016 (1986); In re Lichstrahl, 750 F.2d 1488 (CAll 1985) (same); In re Graham, 726 F.2d 1268 (CA8 1984) (same); and In re Goff, 706 F.2d 574 (CA5 1983) (same).
2 The phrase "applicable nonbankruptcy law" appears elsewhere in the Code, and courts have construed those references to include federal law. See, e. g., 11 U. S. C. § 1125(d) (adequacy of disclosure statement not governed by any "otherwise applicable nonbankruptcy law"); In re Stanley Hotel, Inc., 13 B. R. 926, 931 (Bkrtcy. Ct. Colo. 1981) (§ 1125(d) includes federal securities law); 11 U. S. C. § 108(a) (referring to statute of limitations fixed by "applicable nonbankruptcy law"); In re Ahead By a Length, Inc., 100 B. R. 157, 162-163 (Bkrtcy. Ct. SDNY 1989) (§ 108(a) includes Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act); Motor Carrier Audit & Collection Co. v. Lighting Products, Inc., 113 B. R. 424, 425-426 (ND Ill. 1989) (§ 108(a) includes Interstate Commerce Act); 11 U. S. C.
§ 108(b) (referring to time for filing pleadings, notices, etc., fixed by "applicable nonbankruptcy law"); Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc. v. United States, 290 U. S. App. D. C. 307, 321-322, 937 F.2d 625, 639-640 (1991) (§ 108(b) includes Federal Tort Claims Act). Although we express no view on the correctness of these decisions, we note that our construction of § 541(c)(2)'s reference to "applicable nonbankruptcy law" as including federal law accords with prevailing interpretations of that phrase as it appears elsewhere in the Code. See Morrison-Knudsen Constr. Co. v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, 461 U. S. 624, 633 (1983) (recognizing principle "that a word is presumed to have the same meaning in all subsections of the same statute").
3 The Internal Revenue Service at least on occasion has espoused the view that the transfer of a beneficiary's interest in a pension plan to a bankruptcy trustee would disqualify the plan from taking advantage of the preferential tax treatment available under ERISA. See McLean v. Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund, 762 F.2d 1204, 1206 (CA4 1985); see also In re Moore, 907 F. 2d, at 1481.
4 Those Courts of Appeals that have limited "applicable nonbankruptcy law" to state spendthrift trust law by ignoring the plain language of § 541(c)(2) and relying on isolated excerpts from the legislative history thus have misconceived the appropriate analytical task. See, e. g., In re Daniel, 771 F. 2d, at 1359-1360; In re Lichstrahl, 750 F. 2d, at 1490; In re Graham, 726 F. 2d, at 1271-1272; In re Goff, 706 F. 2d, at 581-582.
Petitioner's surplusage argument fails, however, for the reason that § 522(d)(10)(E) exempts from the bankruptcy estate a much broader category of interests than § 541(c)(2) excludes. For example, pension plans established by governmental entities and churches need not comply with Subchapter I of ERISA, including the antialienation requirement of § 206(d)(1). See 29 U. S. C. §§ 1003(b)(1) and (2); 26 CFR § 1.401(a)-13(a) (1991). So, too, pension plans that
6 Even those courts that would have limited § 541(c)(2) to state law acknowledge the breadth of the § 522(d)(10)(E) exemption. See In re Goff, 706 F. 2d, at 587 (noting that § 522(d)(1O)(E) "reaches a broad array of employment benefits, and exempts both qualified and unqualified pension plans") (footnote omitted); In re Graham, 726 F. 2d, at 1272 (observing that "the § 522(d)(10)(E) exemption would apply to non-ERISA plans as well as to qualified ERISA plans"). See also Arnopol, 56 Mo. L. Rev., at 525-526, 552-553; Seiden, Chapter 7 Cases: Do ERISA and the Bankruptcy Code Conflict as to Whether a Debtor's Interest in or Rights Under a Qualified Plan Can be Used to Pay Claims?, 61 Am. Bankr. L. J. 301, 318 (1987).
Our holding also gives full and appropriate effect to ERISA's goal of protecting pension benefits. See 29 U. S. C. §§ 1001(b) and (c). This Court has described that goal as one
In light of our conclusion that a debtor's interest in an ERISA-qualified pension plan may be excluded from the property of the bankruptcy estate pursuant to § 541(c)(2), we need not reach respondent's alternative argument that
Speaking of agreed-upon methodology: It is good that the Court's analysis today proceeds on the assumption that use of the phrases "state law" and "applicable nonbankruptcy law" in other provisions of the Bankruptcy Code is highly relevant to whether "applicable nonbankruptcy law" means "state law" in § 541(c)(2), since consistency of usage within the same statute is to be presumed. Ante, at 758, and n. 2. This application of a normal and obvious principle of statutory construction would not merit comment, except that we explicitly rejected it, in favor of a one-subsection-at-a-time approach, when interpreting another provision of this very statute earlier this Term. See Dewsnup v. Timm, 502 U. S. 410, 416-417 (1992); id., at 420-423 (SCALIA, J., dissenting). "[W]e express no opinion," our decision said, "as to whether the words [at issue] have different meaning in other provisions of the Bankruptcy Code." Id., at 417, n. 3. I trust