James V. Neal; Connie I. Neal v. FIRST ALLIANCE BANK; BANKPLUS BANK, and NORMAN P. HAGEMEYER, Chapter 7 Trustee

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 14a0500n.06
No. 13-6531
UNITED STATES COURTS OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
JAMES V. NEAL; CONNIE I. NEAL,
Appellants,
v.
FIRST ALLIANCE BANK; BANKPLUS
BANK, and NORMAN P. HAGEMEYER,
Chapter 7 Trustee,
Appellees.
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ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
OPINION
BEFORE: GUY, KETHLEDGE, and STRANCH, Circuit Judges.
STRANCH, Circuit Judge. Debtors James and Connie Neal appeal the district court’s
order affirming a decision of the Bankruptcy Court that denied exemption from the bankruptcy
estate of two annuities. For the reasons stated in the decision of the district court, we affirm the
order of the bankruptcy court.
The Neals filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May 2012. In their
Schedule C listing of property claimed as exempt from creditors, they included two annuities that
are the subject of this appeal. The Chapter 7 Trustee, joined by creditors First Alliance Bank and
BankPlus, objected to the claimed exemptions as not authorized under Tennessee Code
Annotated § 56-7-203.

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For the two annuities as issue, Annuity 4160 listed James Neal as the owner and Connie
Neal as the Annuitant and the Beneficiary and Annuity 4524 listed Connie Neal as the owner,
and James Neal as the Annuitant and the Beneficiary. According to both annuity contracts, the
owner is “[t]he person or entity shown in the Schedule . . . , that owns the master group contract
under which [the] Annuity is issued”; the annuitant is the person on whose life the annuity is
based; and the beneficiary is the recipient of the death benefit under the annuity.
The statute at issue provides that:
The net amount payable under any policy of life insurance or under any annuity
contract upon the life of any person made for the benefit of, or assigned to, the
spouse and/or children, or dependent relatives of the persons, shall be exempt
from all claims of the creditors of the person arising out of or based upon any
obligation created after January 1, 1932, whether or not the right to change the
named beneficiary is reserved by or permitted to that person.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-203.
The bankruptcy court conducted a hearing on the Trustee’s objection to the exemption
and sustained the objection, determining that the annuities did not qualify. The Neals appealed
to the district court, which analyzed the language in the statute and affirmed the bankruptcy
court’s decision. The Neals appealed to this court.
In an appeal from the district court’s review of a bankruptcy court’s decision, we owe no
special deference to the district court. In re Eagle-Picher Indus., Inc., 447 F.3d 461, 463 (6th
Cir. 2006). We “review the bankruptcy court's legal conclusions de novo and uphold its factual
findings unless clearly erroneous.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
Here, the district court’s well-written order correctly analyzes Tennessee Code Annotated
§ 56-7-203 and the bankruptcy court’s decision. We find nothing in the bankruptcy court’s legal
conclusions or factual analysis that requires further explanation. Therefore, we adopt the district
court’s reasoning and its determination that the bankruptcy court was correct in deciding that the

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Case No. 13-6531
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annuities at issue do not qualify as exempt under Tennessee Code Annotated § 56-7-203.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

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