Bankruptcy Decision: Tenants by Entireties

I received an email for an attorney about a bankruptcy court decision in Michigan which held that filing bankruptcy destroyed a tenancy by entireties. The decision was described as an indication of the end of tenants by entireties protection. Actually, such description is indicative more of the end of common sense than the end of tenancy by entireties protection, at least as far as Florida is concerned. Florida has a long and strong tradition of common law tenancy by entireties protection most recently championed by the Florida Supreme Court in the 2001 Beal Bank decision discussed elsewhere in previous post. Secondly, regardless of what happens in Michigan bankruptcy courts, the great majority of Florida debtors never come near any bankruptcy court in the protection of their assets. No Michigan bankruptcy decision should be interpreted as a retreat by Florida’s state court judges, including the Florida Supreme Court , from the concept of tenants by entireties ownership protecting against creditors of each individual spouse.