A wife whose husband defrauded a man who bought their home should not be held financially responsible because she played no part in the fraud, the woman’s attorney told a seemingly unsympathetic Supreme Court on Dec. 6.
The case is Bartenwerfer v. Buckley, court file 21-908.
The petitioner, Kate Bartenwerfer, who filed for bankruptcy after an ill-fated real estate deal, appealed after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled she can’t escape from a debt that is non-dischargeable in a bankruptcy proceeding, even though she had nothing to do with her husband’s fraudulent conduct in the sale of their San Francisco home….