Warfield

BACKGROUND

In May 2022, Johnie Lee Nance filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona. On an official form, Schedule C, he chose “state and federal nonbankruptcy exemptions” and identified certain real property located in Arizona and a recreational vehicle (RV) as exempt from the property of the estate under the homestead exemption of Arizona law. The estate’s trustee, Lawrence J. Warfield, objected. Nance amended his schedule to claim the same property as a homestead exemption under Washington law. Warfield

1 References to statutory sections are to the Bankruptcy Code unless otherwise indicated. References to rules are to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.

WARFIELD V. NANCE 5

objected to the Washington exemptions, and the court sustained both objections, noting Nance’s failure to oppose the objections. Approximately a month later, Nance amended his Schedule C a second time, electing “federal exemptions” and claiming the Arizona real property and the RV as a homestead exemption under federal law. § 522(d)(1). The third homestead exemption Nance claimed is a default exemption in the…