Legal fees owing to a guardian ad litem for minor children are not dischargeable in the father’s bankruptcy, according to District Judge Jon E. DeGuilio of Hammond, Ind.
In litigation with his former wife, a man agreed to the appointment of a guardian ad litem for his children and to pay half the guardian’s fees. The bankruptcy judge in the father’s subsequent bankruptcy case ruled that the guardian’s fees were dischargeable because the costs were not support for the children under Section 523(a)(5).
Judge DeGuilio reversed, declining to follow authority from other circuits holding that dischargeability turns on the identity of the person receiving payment.
Instead, he followed what he called the weight of authority that emphasizes whether the debt is in the nature of support, and not on whether the obligation is payable to someone enumerated in Section 101(14A)(A).
Finding that the services contributed to the support of the children, Judge DeGuilio held that the fees were not dischargeable even though they were payable in the normal course to someone other than the children.