Opinion ID: 853860
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Obligation to Sell Two Properties

Text: The trial court's division of property was not affected by Cowart's bankruptcy because Cowart's ongoing obligation to sell and divide the proceeds of the sale with White was not a debt as defined by the bankruptcy code. See In re Peterson, 133 B.R. 508, 511 (Bankr.W.D.Mo.1991) (obligation to sell property and remit half of net sale to former wife was not debt under bankruptcy code); In re Marriage of Seligman, 14 Cal.App.4th 300, 18 Cal.Rptr.2d 209, 214 (1993) (court ordered division of property requiring performance rather than payment is not a claim as defined by the bankruptcy code). Otherwise stated, the trial court's 1996 decree awarded White a property right in the proceeds that could not be disturbed by Cowart's bankruptcy. This is a corollary of the general proposition that a discharge in bankruptcy does not divest nondebtors of their property rights. HENRY J. SOMMER & MARGARET DEE McGARITY, COLLIER FAMILY LAW AND THE BANKRUPTCY CODE ¶ 6.02[3] (1998). Although other obligations found in the 1996 decree may constitute debts that were dischargeable in bankruptcy, the obligation to divide the sale proceeds was not a debt discharged by Cowart's bankruptcy.