While family law courts may take draconian measures to receive payments from people who owe back child support, people must attempt to not get disheartened. The best option is to seek a Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney who has a knowledge of the entire legal system. Even though an attorney cannot get rid of the back child support, since it is a paramount obligation in the eyes of the court, an attorney can help to make the situation more bearable.
In other words, the trustee is not simply going to make it so that one party can shirk their obligations to pay child support simply because they are filing a bankruptcy with the courts. Fortunately, we can help.
Don’t get disheartened
This may be slightly disheartening to somebody who came in asking “can I get rid of back child support in Chapter 7 bankruptcy?” However, with help from a Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney, you can do a number of other things that will make it easier to pay the child support, and even catch up on back child support.
The court is here to help
Believe it or not, the bankruptcy courts can help people get out of debt, get back on their feet and meet obligations that the court considers incredibly important, such as child support payments. When the bankruptcy court is considering all of the debts that the bankruptcy filer owes, they are going to consider back child support as well as future child support payments.
In this light, the court will often discharge other nonsecured debts that are holding the payee down, and allow them to free up capital that can then go to child support payments. In other words, while it may not be possible to get back child support payments discharged, the court can free up cash by relinquishing them of other obligations. By removing a few obligations, the person to catch up on back child support over time.
Staying current is vital
It is critical for clients to understand that while the courts may consider back child support as a past debt, and allocated it to be paid in installments, they are not going to act if the payee continues to not make child support payments. Put in a different way, once the court files the bankruptcy paperwork, the court is then going to require that the filer continues to make their child support payments regularly, fully and on time.
One of the questions that the bankruptcy trustee is going to ask of the person filing for bankruptcy, is whether or not they are current on child support payments. What they are asking is whether or not the filer continued to make child support payments during the bankruptcy proceedings.
If the person filing for bankruptcy answers in the negative, this will hold up the bankruptcy proceedings as the trustee will not allow the bankruptcy to proceed until the person making child support payments has made current all of the payments, necessary to be made, during the preceding. For help with your debts and reaching a better financial position, call our office to speak with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney.
Note: This is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.