Student loans, divorce & bankruptcy
Letter to “Ask Leon”
My bankruptcy was discharged in 6/2005. Per my divorce degree I’m supposed to pay my ex’s student loans. I thought I was covered by bankruptcy he has since filed an order of contempt against me. There seems to be some question as to weather or not his debt was dischargeable as typically student loans aren’t. The only thing though that obligates me to pay this is the property settlement, which I’m told is dischargeable. Also, I found out the I am listed as a co-borrower on his loans as he forged my name to a document that merged my student loans and his. I didn’t discover this till I filed the bankruptcy when I ran a credit report to make sure I listed all creditors. Please HELP. My attorney doesn’t seem to be very knowledgeable. In federal court yesterday we were told to file a discharge motion.
Leon Says…
If your attorney seems unable to provide you with effective representation, then you better find another lawyer immediately. You would be well advised to have legal representation in the contempt proceedings, and discuss with your lawyer the fact that your property settlement obligation was probably discharged. Hopefully, you listed your “ex” as one of the creditors in your bankruptcy. The property settlement debt to your Ex should be dischargeable, as far as that goes.
However, if you are in fact a co-borrower on the consolidation, then the debt to that lender might not be dischargeable. Frankly, I have never heard of any lender that consolidates the student loans of two separate individuals, and I would hope that your lawyer will look into that to determine if in fact that is what really happened here.
The allegation that your Ex forged your signature to the joint loan consolidation may require you to bring a lawsuit against your Ex and the loan creditor to obtain a court decision as to whether or not that loan is enforceable against you. That will likely be expensive to litigate and often difficult to prove. To prove that your signature was forged will usually require that you hire a well qualified handwriting expert to examine the questioned document, and then to testify that your signature on the consolidation loan was a forgery.