Discharging Child Support

[seekinghelpny]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York
My ex-spouse listed me as a creditor in her backruptcy and is seeking to discharge child support she owes me. I received paperwork regarding the Bankruptcy. There is a page that lists items that cannot be discharged. One of them is child support. I called the Bankruptcy Court helpline to see if I needed to file an objection. She said I didn't. She said all debts (non-dischargeable and dischargeable) are listed in the bankruptcy. I also so $100,000 of student loans listed which this person said are not dischargeable as well. Does this sound right that I shouldn't need to file an objection? It's difficult for me to get off from work to go to court or hire an attorney for something that seems clearly non-dischargeable.

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York
My ex-spouse listed me as a creditor in her backruptcy and is seeking to discharge child support she owes me. I received paperwork regarding the Bankruptcy. There is a page that lists items that cannot be discharged. One of them is child support. I called the Bankruptcy Court helpline to see if I needed to file an objection. She said I didn't. She said all debts (non-dischargeable and dischargeable) are listed in the bankruptcy. I also so $100,000 of student loans listed which this person said are not dischargeable as well. Does this sound right that I shouldn't need to file an objection? It's difficult for me to get off from work to go to court or hire an attorney for something that seems clearly non-dischargeable.

She is correct that all debts need to be listed whether or not they are eligible for discharge.

Child support is not eligible unless it has become a civil judgment (ie, if you went through SupportKids or similar to enforce the cs).

Student loans can sometimes be discharged, but passing the Brunner Test is extremely difficult.

 

[seekinghelpny]

Ok. The debt she owes me is actually legal fees for violating a family court order. There was a family court order allowing me to claim the children as tax exemptions and ordered her to sign the IRS tax form 8332. She refused to sign after numerous requests. IRS wouldn't accept my amended returns. I lost the ability to amend one return because she held out so long. Finally I had to bring her back to court in contempt. She signed the form and I requested her to pay my legal fees for hiring an attorney to get her to comply with the court order. The hearing examiner awarded me legal fees. She instructed my ex-spouse to pay the legal fees directly to the Child Support Enforcement Bureau. She had two months to pay. She didn't then filed bankruptcy 8 months later. On the one hand her lawyer incorrectly listed the debt as child support in the backruptcy which would also make it dischargeable since it's incorrectly listed. Also, I read that a debt that is payable to another government agency (in this case CSEB) or is a sanction for a violation of a court order is also dischargeable.

 

[seekinghelpny]

I meant to say: On the one hand her lawyer incorrectly listed the debt as child support in the backruptcy which would also make it NOT dischargeable since it's incorrectly listed. Also, I read that a debt that is payable to another government agency (in this case CSEB) or is a sanction for a violation of a court order is also NOT dischargeable.

 

[latigo]

. . . Child support is not eligible (for discharge) unless it has become a civil judgment . . . .

So it is your opinion that § 523 (a) (15) of Title 11 USC excepts from a discharge in bankruptcy obligations owed for child support ONLY so long as the debt has not been reduced to a “civil judgment”?

If that is your belief, then you are grossly in error. It is the nature and a character of the obligation that is determinative, not its form!

 

[seekinghelpny]

Latigo, are you referring to this paragraph? (15) to a spouse, former spouse, or child of the debtor and not of the kind described in paragraph (5) that is incurred by the debtor in the course of a divorce or separation or in connection with a separation agreement, divorce decree or other order of a court of record, or a determination made in accordance with State or territorial law by a governmental unit;
It sounds like you agree that this debt is not dischargeable.
Thanks for providing the actual Title number.

 

[CurrentlyUndone]

So it is your opinion that § 523 (a) (15) of Title 11 USC excepts from a discharge in bankruptcy obligations owed for child support ONLY so long as the debt has not been reduced to a “civil judgment”?

If that is your belief, then you are grossly in error. It is the nature and a character of the obligation that is determinative, not its form!

That is obviously why so many people have successfully discharged their "SupportKids" arrears.

 

[CSO286]

That is obviously why so many people have successfully discharged their "SupportKids" arrears.

And why I never ever ever recommend Supportkids to anyone....

 

[CameronNewport]

Child support is not eligible unless it has become a civil judgment

Nonsense. I'd ask you to provide legal authority for that opinion, but I know that you have none because it doesn't exist. This quote found in a 1991 bankruptcy case (In re Canganelli) will give you a clue about the way judges interpret the applicable law:

It is not the manner or form in which the debt is established that determines whether a debt is nondischargeable as support, nor does the fact that the payee of the debt is one other than to whom the duty to support is originally owed necessarily controlling. The labels and titles affixed to the obligation are not controlling. The principal focus of the inquiry is whether the debt is substantively in the nature of a legal support obligation.

 

[CameronNewport]

That is obviously why so many people have successfully discharged their "SupportKids" arrears.

You either invented these so called cases, or the debts were not in the nature of child support obligations.