[PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

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No. 22-14113 ____________________

In re: RODNEY DIXON DORAND, Debtor. _________________________________________________ THE ALABAMA CREDITORS, Plaintiffs-Appellants, versus RODNEY DIXON DORAND,

Defendant-Appellee.

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Appeal from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida USCA11 Case: 22-14113 Document: 48-1 Date Filed: 03/14/2024 Page: 2 of 17

2 Opinion of the Court 22-14113

D.C. Docket No. 3:21-bk-30205 ____________________

Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and JILL PRYOR and MARCUS, Circuit Judges. WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge: This appeal requires us to decide whether an individual retire- ment account is part of a debtor’s bankruptcy estate. Creditors ob- tained a $1.6 million default judgment against Rodney Dorand. To satisfy the judgment, the creditors sought funds in Dorand’s indi- vidual retirement account held by Morgan Stanley. Dorand argued that the funds were exempt from collection under state law, but an Alabama court rejected Dorand’s argument and permitted Morgan Stanley to transfer the funds out of Dorand’s account. Before Mor- gan Stanley transferred the funds, Dorand filed a bankruptcy peti- tion under Chapter 7 and asserted that the retirement account was exempt property of his bankruptcy estate. The bankruptcy court agreed with Dorand. Because the Alabama judgment did not extin- guish Dorand’s interest in his account before he filed his bank- ruptcy petition, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND Creditors sued Rodney Dorand in the Circuit Court of Tallapoosa County, Alabama, for damages arising from a failed condominium development. When Dorand failed to appear at trial, the state court entered a default judgment in favor of the cred- itors for $1.6 million. The default judgment was entered against USCA11 Case: 22-14113 Document: 48-1 Date Filed: 03/14/2024 Page: 3 of 17

22-14113 Opinion of the Court 3

Dorand, the Rodney D. and Barbara H. Dorand Living Trust, and other entities. The creditors began collection proceedings in state court. After they sought the funds in an individual retirement account that Dorand had established at Morgan Stanley, the state court issued a writ of garnishment to Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley appeared and filed an answer. Dorand moved to quash the writ. He argued that the Alabama court lacked jurisdiction to seize the retirement account by garnish- ment because the account was located in Florida. Dorand also filed a claim of exemption for the retirement account under Alabama Rule of Civil Procedure 64A. He asserted that the retirement ac- count was exempt from garnishment because it contained retire- ment funds. The creditors responded that the funds were not ex- empt because Dorand had failed to file an inventory, as required by Alabama procedural law, and had engaged in prohibited transac- tions, among other reasons.