Lurie v. Blackwell

Ronald Lurie and Nancy Lurie (plaintiff) were married. In 1978, while the Luries resided in Missouri, the Luries purchased a sculpture by Harry Jackson from an art dealer. The dealer submitted an affidavit stating that he sold the sculpture to “Ron and Nancy Lurie,” and the bill of sale referred to the buyers as “Mr. and Mrs. Ron Lurie” who lived at a Missouri address. The Luries later moved to Montana. In 1994, the Luries sent the sculpture to the Harry Jackson studio in Wyoming to have the sculpture sold. There is no evidence that the Luries intended for the sculpture to remain in Wyoming permanently. Ronald (but not Nancy) filed for bankruptcy protection in Missouri. In connection with the bankruptcy proceeding, in April 1995, Robert Blackwell (defendant), Ronald’s bankruptcy trustee, obtained a judgment against Ronald in Wyoming for more than $1 million. In March 2001, a Wyoming court issued a writ of execution, pursuant to which the sheriff seized the sculpture from the studio. Nancy then petitioned to intervene in the Wyoming proceeding, seeking to quash the writ of execution. Per Nancy, the writ was invalid because she and Ronald owned the sculpture as tenants by the entirety (i.e., each owned an undivided interest in the entire sculpture). The district court denied Nancy’s petition, ruling that neither Montana nor Wyoming recognized tenancies by the entirety for personal property. Nancy appealed, arguing that Missouri law—which did recognize tenancies by the entirety for personal property—applied.