Richard Ellis Mott v. John G. Groves, Trustee

This is an appeal from a district court judgment affirming an order of a referee in bankruptcy. That order disallowed the claim of the bankrupt, Richard E. Mott, to an exemption of homesteaded property and to an exemption of a one thousand dollar deposit in a savings and loan association.

In the administration of bankrupt estates, homestead exemptions are governed by state law. Section 6 of the Bankruptcy Act (Act), 11 U.S.C. § 24 . Under the laws of California, where this case arose, “[T]he homestead consists of the dwelling house in which the claimant resides, together with outbuildings, and the land on which the same are situated, selected * * * ” in the manner prescribed by law. Cal.Civ.Code, § 1237 (West 1957). In order to establish a homestead, there must be an element of good faith and a present intention to make the premises the residence, the home, and the abiding place of the declarant. Lakas v. Archambault, 38 Cal. App. 365 , 176 P. 180 (1918).

The referee gave several reasons for disallowing the bankrupt’s claim of an exemption of the homesteaded property. One of these is that the bankrupt, a California resident, did not, on the date of recordation of the homestead,…