In Re Cleve Jackson Howell, Bankrupt. Frank Mirgon, Elaine Mirgon v. Cleve Jackson Howell, Defendant-Respondent

The appellants Frank and Elaine Mirgon, who were creditors in the bankruptcy proceeding of appellee Howell, appeal from an order of the District Court for the Northern District of California, which affirmed a Bankruptcy Court order sustaining objec tions to trustee’s report of exempt property. The order reflected the Bankruptcy Judge’s determination that the appellee was entitled to a homestead exemption in the amount of $30,000 on the ground that he was a “head of a household” within the meaning of California Civil Code § 1261. Originally, the appellants also raised the issue of whether the Bankruptcy Judge erred in not applying the doctrine of res judicata to a prior state court judgment in the subsequent bankruptcy proceeding. That issue has been abandoned by the appellants and is not before us on this appeal.

At the time the appellee was adjudicated a bankrupt, he had been recently divorced. A final judgment of dissolution was entered on October 20, 1976. On January 24, 1977, the appellee recorded a homestead exemption in the amount of $30,000, on the ground that he was the “head of the household” within the meaning of California Civil Code § 1261. The appellee premised his…