Bankr. No.:
98-50422
Adv. No.:
00-5016
Chapter:
7
Date of Decision:
June 13, 2001
Issue:
Whether certain credit card debts assigned to Defendant-Debtor in a pre-petition divorce were nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(5)?
Ruling:
The debts were nondischargeable under § 523(a)(5) because Defendant-Debtor’s obligation to pay the subject credit card debts were in the nature of support for Plaintiff, his former spouse. This conclusion was based on: Plaintiff’s inferior financial situation at the time of the divorce; Defendant-Debtor’s receipt of more property at the time of the divorce, some of which was to be sold with the proceeds applied to marital debt; the difficulty Plaintiff would have paying her basic expenses if she also had to pay the subject credit card debts; and the divorce court’s conclusion that Defendant-Debtor’s obligation to pay the credit card debts was enforceable through a contempt proceeding.
Full Bankruptcy Court Decision: