Discharge/Dischargeability

Overpaying a DSO Doesn’t Result in a Nondischargeable Debt, Seventh Circuit Holds

On an issue dividing the courts, the Seventh Circuit rules that an obligation to repay a domestic support obligation is a dischargeable debt, not a nondischargeable DSO.

Self-Inflicted Disability Won’t Make Student Loans Dischargeable, BAP Says

The BAP avoided making a rule that would have allowed convicted felons to discharge student loans more easily than debtors with clean records.

Second Circuit Opinion Raises Questions Left Open by Taggart v. Lorenzen

If a lower court buys an argument that’s clearly wrong, is the argument nonetheless ‘objectively reasonable?’ And does Taggart apply to an automatic stay violation?

Benchnotes August 2019

August 2019

Moving Beyond Medical Debt

Religious Contributions Not Considered in Dischargeability of Student Loans

First Amendment doesn’t compel deduction of religious contributions in finding an ‘undue hardship’ justifying the discharge of student loans.

Arbitrability of Student Loan Dischargeability

August 2019

Supreme Court Rejects Strict Liability for Discharge Violations

‘No objectively reasonable basis’ is the high court standard to find civil contempt for violating the discharge injunction.