Short v. Internal Revenue Service (In Re Bathrick)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHN R. BLINN, Bankruptcy Judge:

The matter is before the Court on the complaint of the trustee asserting that a tax refund owed jointly to the bankrupt and his wife (not a bankrupt), is entirely property vesting in the trustee of the husband’s estate upon the filing of the petition. On March 26, 1976, Mr. Bathrick filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy. At the time of the bankruptcy proceeding, and for several years prior to that action, Alton Bathrick was married to Blythe Bathrick.

In April of 1976, Mr. and Mrs. Bathrick together filed a joint tax return for 1975, the…