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Zubrod v. CWCapital Asset Management, LLC (In re Patel) (2010)

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Zubrod v. CWCapital Asset Management, LLC (In re Patel) (2010)

Citation: 2010 WY 147, 242 P.3d 1015 · Court: Supreme Court of Wyoming, No. S-10-0075 (certified question) · Decided: November 16, 2010 · Opinion: Voigt, J.

Source note (2026-10-18):

Opinion text retrieved 2026-10-17 from the Caselaw Access Project’s static copy of the Pacific Reporter (static.case.law, P.3d volume 242), an unofficial host. The OCR text sometimes renders “1-19-103” as “1-19-108”; the certified question and analysis concern § 1-19-103.

Facts

CWCapital held a money judgment against Patel, who owned all of P & P, Inc. and half of PJP Enterprises, Inc., and was president of both. The sheriff tried to serve writs of execution on Patel to levy on his shares; Patel was absent, so both writs were left with Kingston, the registered agent of PJP and the law partner of Graves, the registered agent of P & P. Patel then filed bankruptcy, and the trustee challenged whether CWCapital’s levy had created a perfected interest in the stock.

Holding

(1) Leaving the writ with a corporation’s registered agent is a valid levy on its stock under W.S. 1-19-103 when no corporate officer is present when service is attempted; the sheriff need not show diligence in looking for an officer. (2) Service on the law partner of the registered agent is not a valid levy: “a levy which does not comply with the requirements of a state statute is invalid,” and no interest in the P & P shares was perfected.

Reasoning

  • Section 1-19-103 is unambiguous; reading “agent” to apply only when the corporation has no officers would nullify the registered-agent statutes and the stock-levy statutes. Shares are bound “from the time of the levy” (§ 1-19-107), so timing matters among competing creditors.
  • W.R.C.P. 4 governs service of a summons, not a writ of execution; the specific statute controls.

Practical impact

  • Buyers at execution sales of closely held stock: the sale passes nothing if the levy was not made on an officer, resident manager or registered agent as § 1-19-103 requires; check the sheriff’s return.
  • Creditors: a defective levy leaves the stock to the bankruptcy trustee.

Good-law status

Still good law as of 2026-10-17; § 1-19-103 retains the same text (retrieved from wyoleg.gov 2026-10-17). Securities governed by UCC Article 8 are also subject to W.S. 34.1-8-112.

Rechecked 2026-10-18 against the full CAP opinion: later Wyoming decisions located through CourtListener (2012-2017) cite it only for general statutory-construction principles; § 1-19-103 is unchanged in the 2026 compiled title. Not a commercial citator check.

Applies in →

wyoming · equity-interests-stock-llc-charging-orders · personal-property-execution-sales-by-state

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