Opinion ID: 3170817
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Payments to Bette Wettach for Household

Text: Expenses Fifth, the Wettachs dispute the bankruptcy court’s finding, upheld by the district court, that the Trustee could recover $52,805 conveyed to Bette Wettach. Specifically, during the lookback period the Wettachs transferred funds from the entireties account to Bette Wettach, who then deposited these funds into a separate jointly-held account (the “Dollar General account”), allegedly to pay for various household expenses. See In re Wettach, 489 B.R. at 519. The bankruptcy court found that the total amount of these transfers during the lookback period was $148,505, of which $52,805 were potentially recoverable as non-necessary expenditures. Id. at 519-20. Because these findings are not clearly erroneous, we affirm. We agree with the Trustee that the Wettachs’ argument borders on the incomprehensible. Without any reference to the record, the Wettachs contend that average household expenditures paid by Bette Wettach were $2,750 per month. They then state that “[t]he total amount deposited during the lookback years totaled $146,405, a difference of $10,405 for non-necessities.” Appellants’ Br. 26. Presumably, the 4 We note that subtracting the $11,210.65 in deductions from the Trustee’s total figure of $178,508.21 in renovation expenses results in $167,297.56 of potentially recoverable expenditures. Any error, presumably typographical, by the bankruptcy court is de minimis and harmless. 24 Wettachs intend to argue that over the 48-month lookback period, Bette Wettach spent an average of $132,000 [= 48 months x $2,750 per month] in necessary household expenditures, meaning that the Trustee’s potential recovery should be limited to $14,405 [= $146,405 - $132,000], instead of the $52,805 awarded by the bankruptcy court. Of course, they provide no support for any of these figures, and the Court declines the invitation to comb through the record in an attempt to disentangle the Wettachs’ reasoning. Cf. United States v. Starnes, 583 F.3d 196, 216 (3d Cir. 2009). By contrast, the bankruptcy court’s reasoning is straightforward and not clearly erroneous, even if it does suffer from minimal mathematical deficiencies. Schedule J to the bankruptcy petition lists $10,110 in total average monthly expenses, App. 713, of which Bette Wettach testified that at least $1,950 comprised expenses paid by her from the Dollar General account, see App. 376:17-382:13. The Wettachs also do not credibly dispute this $1,950 figure. Over the lookback period, Bette Wettach therefore should have paid $93,600 [= 48 months x $1,950 per month] in household expenses from the account. Instead, the bankruptcy court found that she spent $148,505. In re Wettach, 489 B.R. at 519. It would not be clearly erroneous to conclude that the difference of $54,905 [= $148,505 - $93,600] therefore corresponds to nonnecessary expenditures during the lookback period. For reasons that are not clear from the record, the bankruptcy court instead awarded $52,805 in potentially recoverable transfers. Id. at 520. As the discrepancy is in the Wettachs’ favor, any error is harmless. Cf. SBRMCOA, 707 F.3d at 27273. 25 We therefore affirm the order of the district court affirming the bankruptcy court on this issue.