Must a wife file a complaint objecting to the dischargeability of a domestic support obligation in husband’s chapter 7 bankruptcy case in Virginia?
No, the spouse does not have to file a complaint objecting to the dischargeability of a domestic support obligation in his or her spouse’s chapter 7 bankruptcy case. Domestic support obligations are automatically nondischargeable in bankruptcy and both the federal and state courts have jurisdiction over cases involving the dischargeability of a family law debt. In the greater Richmond metropolitan area, this means this issue of the dischargeability of a particular debt related to a separation or divorce, or support, in bankruptcy may be decided in the Virginia Circuit Courts or Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for Chesterfield County, Hanover County, Henrico County or the City of Richmond, or the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division.
Under Section 523 of the Bankruptcy Code, certain debts are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. The types of debts that may be automatically nondischargeable include certain types of taxes or customs duties; domestic support obligations; certain fines, penalties or forfeitures owed to the government; most student loans; personal injury or wrongful death caused by operating a vehicle while intoxicated; a debt that was or could have been listed in a prior case in which the debtor waived, or was denied, a discharge; a judgment, order or decree concerning fraud or defalcation as a fiduciary of a federally insured depository or credit union; a malicious or reckless failure to fulfill a commitment to a Federal depository institutions regulatory agency to maintain capital; criminal restitution under Title 18 of the U.S. Code; a debt incurred to pay a nondischargeable tax to the U.S. or other governmental unit; fines or penalties imposed under Federal election law; certain family law debts that are not Domestic Support Obligations; certain post-petition homeowner or condominium association dues; fees, costs and expense on a prisoner for filing a case, motion, complaint or appeal; debt owed to certain retirement plans; and certain violations of Federal securities law. Several types of debts are only potentially nondischargeable; these debts will be discharged unless the creditor files a complaint or adversary proceeding within sixty (60) days following the date first set for the meeting of creditors objecting to the discharge of a debt based on fraud, false pretenses, use of a false financial statement in writing; fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity, embezzlement or larceny; or wilfull and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or the property of another entity.
Domestic support obligations and family law debts that are not domestic support obligations do not require the filing of a complaint within a certain time period for the debts to be nondischargeable. As answered in the question, “Can My Spouse Discharge a Family Law Debt in Bankruptcy?”, while domestic support obligations are nondischargeable in all bankruptcies, family law debts that are not domestic support obligations may be discharged in a chapter 13 case, but not in a chapter 7 case.
You should consult with your Virginia bankruptcy or divorce lawyer concerning the dischargeability of family law debts in bankruptcy.