Filing bankruptcy mostly does not affect the collection of child or spousal support against you—except it can help in one very important way. Support Obligations Mostly NOT Affected by Bankruptcy 1. No discharge (“write-off”) of child and spousal support obligations ... Read More »
Child or Spousal Support Not Written Off in Bankruptcy
You can’t discharge child support or spousal support. But the bankruptcy court gets to say whether it's really "in the nature of" support. Our last blog post was about the conditions under which bankruptcy can discharge—write off—all income tax debts that meet certain conditions. Those ... Read More »
A Fresh Start with the Child or Spousal Support Lien on Your Home
The good news is that if you are behind on child or spousal support, with a resulting lien on your home, you can safely protect that home. If you are behind on your support payments, your ex-spouse and support enforcement agencies have tremendous tools to use against you to try to force you ... Read More »
Chapter 7 and Chapter 13–Child and Spousal Support
Unpaid support is the highest priority of the “priority” debts. Chapter 7 frees up money to pay it. Chapter 13 buys you time to do so. In our last blog post we said that, very broadly speaking, if none of your unsecured debts are “priority” ones, you’d lean ... Read More »
Chapter 7 and Chapter 13–Unpaid Child or Spousal Support Lien on Your Home
One of the most important distinctions between these consumer bankruptcy options are how they help or don’t help with support arrearage debt. Support Liens If you are behind on your child or spousal support payments and you own a home, most likely there is a lien on that home for ... Read More »
Making Sense of Bankruptcy: Curing Child and Spousal Support Arrearage
Unlike Chapter 7 “straight bankruptcy,” Chapter 13 can legally prevent your ex-spouse/support enforcement from chasing you and your assets. In this “Making Sense” series, we’re helping you understand bankruptcy by explaining its main concepts through single ... Read More »
Bankruptcy by Example: Permanently Stop Collection of Back Child or Spousal Support
If you are behind on support payments, regular Chapter 7 bankruptcy can only help so much. Chapter 13 is infinitely stronger. If you are behind on either child or spousal support payments, your ex-spouse and the support enforcement agencies have some tremendously powerful ways to make you pay. ... Read More »
What’s So Special About “Priority” Debts?
“Priority” debts are treated much better than other unsecured debts, but you can use that to your advantage in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Different Types of Debts You may have heard that your debts are not all treated equally under the law in bankruptcy. Most debts can be “discharged” (legally ... Read More »
Does Bankruptcy Stop Collections of Child and Spousal Support?
The answer, unfortunately, is it depends. But the good news is that the rules are quite clear. And there IS relief from what can otherwise be extremely aggressive collection action against you. Ongoing Support Divorce court determines how much you must pay each month in child and/or spousal ... Read More »
Even If You Have a Big Debt That Can’t Be Written Off, Bankruptcy Can Be a Very Good Solution
Do you have a serious debt that bankruptcy does not write off? If that has convinced you that bankruptcy can’t help you, here are 6 reasons why it can. If you owe taxes, student loans, child or spousal support obligations or any other debts that you know bankruptcy does not discharge, you should ... Read More »
