DECISION REGARDING OBJECTION TO EXEMPTIONS

ROBERT E. GRANT, Bankruptcy Judge.

Prior to the petition for relief initiating this case, Mr. Jenkins was injured during the course of his employment. On December 4, 2012, he and his employer settled the resulting Worker's Compensation claim for the sum of $250,000. Half of this amount, $125,000, was paid in a lump sum; the other half was used to purchase an annuity which would pay Mr. Jenkins $430 a month for life, guaranteed for thirty years. The debtors filed a petition for relief under Chapter 7 on April 19, 2016, and have claimed the annuity as fully exempt pursuant to Indiana's Worker's Compensation exemption statute, I.C. 22-3-2-17. The trustee has objected to the exemption and the matter has been submitted to the court on stipulations of fact and the briefs of counsel.

The District Court previously considered the exemption of I.C. 22-3-2-17 in Matter of Weaver, 93 B.R. 172 (N.D. Ind. 1988). It concluded that the act uses the term "compensation" not to refer to what the employee receives but, instead, to the employer's duty to pay and, once that duty has been discharged, there is no exemption for the proceeds received by the employee. Id. at 174-75. That conclusion should not change because part of the settlement proceeds were used to purchase an annuity rather than being received in a lump sum. Although the debtors invite the court to rethink Weaver's conclusion, and interpret the statute differently, we see no reason to do so.

The trustee's objection will be sustained and the debtors' claimed exemption for a structured settlement/annuity through Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Co. of Nebraska will be DENIED. Accord, In re Bonuchi, 322 B.R. 868 (Bankr. W.D. Mo. 2005).

An appropriate order will be entered.