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

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No. 20-12823 ____________________ In re: TIMOTHY RUSSELL HOFFMAN, Debtor. ___________________________________________________ TIMOTHY RUSSELL HOFFMAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus SIGNATURE BANK OF GEORGIA,

Defendant-Appellee. USCA11 Case: 20-12823 Date Filed: 01/24/2022 Page: 2 of 10

2 Opinion of the Court 20-12823

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Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 3:19-cv-00095-TCB ____________________ Before WILSON, LAGOA, and ED CARNES, Circuit Judges. WILSON, Circuit Judge: Appellant-Debtor Timothy Hoffman appeals the district court’s affirmance of the bankruptcy court’s order granting Appel- lee-Creditor Signature Bank of Georgia’s (the Bank) objection to Hoffman’s claimed bankruptcy estate exemptions. The Bank ob- jected to Hoffman’s claimed exemptions of various retirement ac- counts. The bankruptcy court granted the Bank’s objections as to Hoffman’s Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA), concluding that Roth IRAs—unlike traditional IRAs and 401(k) accounts—are not excluded from bankruptcy estates. The district court affirmed the bankruptcy court’s order. This appeal presents an issue of first impression for this court: Are Roth IRAs excluded from Georgia debtors’ bankruptcy estates pursuant to federal law? Because we answer the question in the affirmative, we reverse the district court’s affirmance of the bankruptcy court’s order and remand for further proceedings con- sistent with this opinion. USCA11 Case: 20-12823 Date Filed: 01/24/2022 Page: 3 of 10

20-12823 Opinion of the Court 3

I. Timothy Hoffman is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and private pilot. Hoping to help his son-in-law pursue his dream of opening a restaurant, Hoffman guaranteed a loan of approximately $432,000 with the Bank. The restaurant ultimately failed, resulting in Hoffman defaulting on his loan from the Bank and filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In his bankruptcy schedules, Hoffman disclosed an interest in the following retirement accounts: (1) Traditional IRA, (2) Roth Conversion IRA, (3) Roth Contributory IRA, and (4) Fidelity 401(k). Hoffman claimed all of the accounts as exempt on his bank- ruptcy Schedule C. 1 The Bank filed an objection in the bankruptcy court to Hoff- man’s claimed exemptions, asserting that his retirement accounts either were not qualified retirement plans or did not otherwise qualify as exempt. In reply, Hoffman maintained that all of his re- tirement accounts are legally exempt. Specifically regarding the Roth IRAs, Hoffman asserted that they either were excluded from the estate pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 541(c)(2), or, if not excluded,

1 One of the many forms a debtor has to complete when filing for bankruptcy is Schedule C: The Property You Claim as Exempt. Schedule C is where debt- ors list all of the legally exempt property that they want to keep. USCA11 Case: 20-12823 Date Filed: 01/24/2022 Page: 4 of 10

4 Opinion of the Court 20-12823 were exempt under O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100(a)(2)(E). 2 As to exclusion, Hoffman argued that Georgia’s revised garnishment statute applies to Roth IRAs. Accordingly, Hoffman contended that the court should revisit precedent analyzing a prior version of Georgia’s gar- nishment statute—a version that applied only to tr