Whittington v. Gilbralter Savings & Loan Ass'n

SUSAN H. BLACK, District Judge:

This is an appeal from the district court’s affirmance of Bankruptcy Judge Coleman’s order denying the trustee-appellant’s petition to sell appellee’s property for division. Because we find that the bankruptcy court incorrectly applied Alabama’s law of cotenancies, we reverse and remand for additional findings.

The relevant facts of this case may be briefly summarized. In 1973, debtor John P. Spain and his wife, Mary P. Spain, acquired title to a parcel of real property. On October 9, 1979, Mr. Spain filed a petition in bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the…