Case Name: In re W.F.C. REAL ESTATE TRUST # 1, Debtor
Court: United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1999-07-09
Citations: 236 B.R. 90
Docket Number: Bankruptcy No. 99-24471-BKC-PGH
Parties: In re W.F.C. REAL ESTATE TRUST # 1, Debtor.
Judges: 
Reporter: West's Bankruptcy Reporter
Volume: 236
Pages: 90–91

Head Matter:
In re W.F.C. REAL ESTATE TRUST # 1, Debtor.
Bankruptcy No. 99-24471-BKC-PGH.
United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida, Fort Lauderdale Division.
July 9, 1999.

Opinion:
ORDER DISMISSING CHAPTER 13 CASE WITH PREJUDICE
PAUL HYMAN, Jr., Bankruptcy Judge.
THIS MATTER came before the Court sua sponte. The Debtor in the above-captioned Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case is a trust. Section 109(e) of the Bankruptcy Code requires that a Chapter 13 debtor be an "individual with regular income." Under § 101(30) of the Bankruptcy Code, an individual with regular income is an "individual whose income is sufficiently stable and regular to enable such individual to make payments under a plan under chapter 13 of this title, other than a stockbroker or a commodity broker." Neither of these provisions nor their respective legislative histories indicate that a trust qualifies as an "individual with regular income."
Collier, referring to § 101(41)'s definition of "person," notes that the Bankruptcy Code differentiates between an individual and a corporation, a partnership, and a municipality. Collier on Bankruptcy, ¶ 101.30[3] (15th ed. rev.1996). Section 101(41) states that " 'person' includes individual, partnership, and corporation!)]" It logically follows, therefore, that a partnership or a corporation cannot be an individual. This does not necessarily mean that a trust cannot be an individual.
Black's Law Dictionary defines an individual as "a single person . and also, . a private or natural person as distinguished from a partnership, corporation, or association!)]" Blaok's Law DictionaRY (rev. 4th ed.1968). Moreover, Black's defines a trust as "[a] right of property, real or personal, held by one party for the benefit of another." Black's Law DictionaRY (rev. 4th ed.1968). Black's further characterizes a trust as a "confidence," an "arrangement," and a "fiduciary relation." Black's Law Dictionary (rev. 4th ed.1968). Black's definitions of "individual" and "trust" do not seem to coincide.
Notwithstanding the fact that § 109(e) does not expressly preclude a trust from being a debtor under Chapter 13, the Court concludes, in accordance with § 101(30) & (41) of the Bankruptcy Code, Collier on Bankruptcy, and Black's Law Dictionary, that a trust does not qualify as an "individual with regular income" and so cannot be a debtor under Chapter 13. Therefore, based on the foregoing and with the Court being otherwise fully advised in the premises, it is hereby:
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the above-captioned Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case is Dismissed with Prejudice.