Yesterday and today, the Ninth Circuit asked the Supreme Court to decide state law questions in two different cases. Also today, the Supreme Court agreed to answer a question in a third case.
The third case is In re Brace. The federal court’s question is: “Does the form of title presumption set forth in section 662 of the California Evidence Code overcome the community property presumption set forth in section 760 of the California Family Code in Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases where: (1) the debtor husband and non-debtor wife acquire property from a third party as joint tenants; (2) the deed to that property conveys the property at issue to the debtor husband and non-debtor wife as joint tenants; and (3) the interests of the debtor and non-debtor spouse are aligned against the trustee of the bankruptcy estate?” (Links added.)
The grant of the Ninth Circuit’s request was not unexpected.