Appeal Dismissed Because Unscheduled Property Cannot Be Abandoned at Close of Bankruptcy Proceeding.
Lamas v. Infinity Ins. Co., Case No. B233042 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Aug. 23, 2012) (unpublished; 3-0 decision authored by Justice Johnson) is a situation where plaintiff appealed some discovery sanctions even though she had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and failed to disclose the lawsuit in her bankruptcy schedules. She then appealed the adverse discovery sanctions.
Appeal dismissed. Any pre-petition claim (which this was) happens to be property of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy estate, with the the trustee having the proper standing to pursue it. In fact, no abandonment of the claim by the trustee would return the claim to her. Reason? Claims not formally scheduled in the bankrutcy proceeding are not abandoned at the close of the proceeding, but remain with the bankruptcy estate in order to insure candidness of disclosure by the debtor. (M & M Foods v. Pacific American Fish Co., Inc., 196 Cal.App.4th 554, 563 (2011).)