9th Cir. B.A.P.
13-1173

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel reversed a bankruptcy court order. The court held that a bankruptcy court erred as a matter of law in concluding, for purposes of a Bankruptcy Code §523(a)(4) defalcation claim, that Washington common law deemed the marital relationship to be in the nature of an express or technical trust that would impose fiduciary duties on spouses to manage community property for the benefit of the marital community during marriage.