Richard Gerald Rousey, et Ux. v. Jill R. Jacoway (544 U.S. 320)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 4, 2005 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 544 U.S. 320 · 125 S. Ct. 1561
- Decided
- April 4, 2005
- Term
- October Term 2004
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Thomas
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court. The Bankruptcy Code permits debtors to exempt certain property from the bankruptcy estate, allowing them to retain those assets rather than divide them among their creditors. 11 U. S. C. § 522. The question in this case is whether debtors can exempt assets in their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) from the bankruptcy estate pursuant to § 522(d)(10)(E). We hold that IRAs can be so exempted. I Petitioners Richard and Betty Jo Rousey were formerly employed at Northrup Grumman Corp. At the termination of their employment, Northrup Grumman required them to take lump-sum distributions from their employer-sponsored pension plans. In re Rousey, 283 B. R. 265, 268 (Bkrtcy. App. Panel CA8 2002); Brief for Petitioners 2. The Rouseys deposited the lump sums into two IRAs, one in each of their names. 283 B. R., at 268. The Rouseys’ accounts qualify as IRAs under a number of requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. Each account is “a trust created or organized in the United States for the exclusive benefit of an individual or his beneficiaries.” 26 U. S. C. § 408(a) (2000 ed. and Supp. II). The Internal Revenue Code limits the types of assets in which IRA-holders may invest their accounts, §§ 408(a)(3), (a)(5), and provides that the balance in IRAs is nonforfeitable, § 408(a)(4). It also caps yearly contributions to IRAs.…
Excerpt of a 26,291-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.