Listing IRA As Creditor on Bankruptcy Schedule Kills Exempt Status.

Before filing bankruptcy, the debtor created a self-directed IRA and upon later filing bankruptcy the debtor listed the IRA as an exempt asset under 11 U.S.C. Sec. 522(d)(12) and valued it at $180,000.  Before filing bankruptcy, the debtor and his wife created a partnership in which they each owned a 50 percent interest.  The partnership was created for real estate development purposes and complemented the debtor's construction business.  The partnership agreement provided that the IRA would contribute capital and a cash contribution to the partnership.  Ultimately, the IRA funded the purchase price of properties the partnership acquired and a deed conveyed a tract to the IRA.  The IRA later paid for development of a tract.  The debtor and the partnership filed bankruptcy, and the partnership listed both the debtor and the IRA as unsecured creditors.  The trustee and a bank objected to the claimed exemption for the IRA on the basis that the IRA had engaged in a prohibited transaction that caused it to lose its tax exempt status.  The bankruptcy court agreed that the IRA was not exempt, and the court affirmed on appeal.  The IRA engaged in prohibited transactions with disqualified persons by loaning funds to the partnership.  In re Kellerman, No. 4:15CV00347 JLH, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122046 (E.D. Ark. Sept. 14, 2015).