Nichols

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

JAMES NICHOLS; BEVERLY ANN 

NICHOLS, No. 05-15554 Plaintiffs-Appellants, v.  D.C. No.

CV-04-00099-DGC

DAVID A. BIRDSELL, OPINION

Defendant-Appellee.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona David G. Campbell, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted February 16, 2007—San Francisco, California

Filed May 9, 2007

Before: J. Clifford Wallace, Richard D. Cudahy,* and M. Margaret McKeown, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Wallace

*The Honorable Richard D. Cudahy, Senior United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit, sitting by designation. Michael J. Fatta, Law Office of Michael J. Fatta, PLLC, Glen- dale, Arizona, for the plaintiffs-appellants.

Terry A. Dake, Terry A. Dake, LTC., Phoenix, Arizona, for the defendant-appellee.

OPINION

WALLACE, Senior Circuit Judge:

This case presents a new issue for our court: whether debt- ors’ pre-bankruptcy application of their right to tax refunds to post-bankruptcy tax obligations constitutes an asset…