In the Matter of Doreen Mary Jane BRADY, Debtor/Appellant

In the Matter of Doreen Mary Jane BRADY, Debtor/Appellant. B. No. 86-02052-3. Civ. No. 87-0195-CV-W-3. United States District Court, W.D. Missouri, W.D. May 27, 1987. John K. Weilert, Independence, Mo., for debtor. [MAJORITY — ELMO B. HUNTER, Senior District Judge.] ORDER ELMO B. HUNTER, Senior District Judge. Before the court is an appeal from an order of the Bankruptcy Court, made January 21, 1987, which dismissed appellant’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. Appellant filed her Chapter 7 petition on May 5, 1986, listing unsecured claims totaling $5,448.36, and no secured or priority claims. Her property was of nominal value; appellant’s sole income is a Social Security benefit check in the amount of $448.00 per month. On Schedule B-4 of her petition, appellant claimed her Social Security benefit as exempt property. On January 21, 1987, after a hearing on the matter, the Bankruptcy Court dismissed the appellant’s petition pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 707(b), stating that appellant’s $448.00 per month income would enable her to repay her unsecured creditors through a Chapter 13 Plan in a little over two years at a rate of $200.00 per month. Appellant points out that her monthly Social Security check is exempt property from her bankruptcy estate. See 11 U.S.C. § 522; 42 U.S.C. § 407(b); Mo.Rev.Stat. §§ 513.427 and 513.430(10)(a) (1986). This court agrees with appellant that it was error to dismiss her Chapter 7 petition on the grounds that she could pay her unsecured creditors with exempt income. See In re Mastroeni, 56 B.R. 456, 458-59 (S.D.N.Y.1985). Accordingly, it is ORDERED the Bankruptcy Court’s order dismissing appellant’s Chapter 7 petition is reversed; it is further ORDERED this matter is remanded to the Bankruptcy Court for further proceedings consistent with this order.