Bankruptcy Won't Clear Up Spousal or Child Support Arrearages
In today's economy, everyone's dealing with financial pressure. Whether you are paying or receiving spousal and child support payments, you may be facing a lot of challenges these days. Either the payor or the payee could be out of a job or dealing with reduced hours and a reduction in pay. Either way, those alimony and child support payments are probably weighing heavily on your mind.
If you're behind on your alimony or child support -- or if your ex is -- you may be wondering whether bankruptcy will make those back-payments go away. It won't.
Alimony and child support payments are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. In fact, under bankruptcy law, spousal and child support payments have to be paid before any other creditor can take a piece of the debtor's assets -- even the tax man.
What Should I Do If My Ex Owes Child Support and Alimony And Is Filing for Bankruptcy?
Just because the law doesn't allow alimony or child support to be wiped out by bankruptcy does not mean you don't need to protect your interests. Just like any other creditor, you should make sure the bankruptcy court knows that you're pressing your claim by filing a "nondischargeability complaint" concerning any alimony or child support you are owed.
Both the bankruptcy trustee and the Child Support Enforcement program should notify you if your ex has filed for bankruptcy, so you should never be taken by surprise. Even if you do nothing, it is unlikely that the bankruptcy court would discharge the back-child support or alimony arrearages your ex owes you, but it's always a good idea to get good legal advice and protect yourself.
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