In re Mitchell

James and Jackie Mitchell (debtors) filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. The Mitchells made several misstatements and omissions in their initial bankruptcy filings, including (1) listing half their monthly income in response to a question requiring their full monthly income, (2) listing an incorrect cash value and face value for a life-insurance policy, (3) omitting payments made to creditors within 90 days of the bankruptcy filing, (4) listing a claim against them by Cadle Company (creditor) as a liability but not listing a counterclaim against Cadle as an asset, (5) omitting or undervaluing James’s collection of vintage-car-refurbishing tools, and (6) omitting a set of Wedgwood china. The Mitchells claimed they had filled out the bankruptcy forms quickly and had not reviewed forms prepared by their attorney for accuracy. The Mitchells subsequently amended their filings but corrected only the life-insurance value and the characterization of the Cadle counterclaim. Cadle objected to the Mitchells’ discharge of their bankruptcy based on the Mitchells’ allegedly knowing and fraudulent false oaths in their sworn bankruptcy petition. The bankruptcy court granted discharge after concluding that the Mitchells had not acted with fraudulent intent and had made only a few minor honest mistakes in their filings. The bankruptcy court also noted that even though the Mitchells had undervalued their monthly income and omitted their counterclaim, accurate information about those points was available elsewhere in the bankruptcy petition. The district court reversed, finding that discharge was inappropriate because the Mitchells had made multiple false oaths. The Mitchells appealed.