Beware of the Ex: Estranged wife challenges husband’s bankruptcy, has his discharge dismissed
An estranged wife’s challenge to her husband’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing led to the dismissal of any discharge of debts he may have been entitled to after Brooklyn’s bankruptcy court found him fraudulent.
Aleksandr Virovlyanskiy submitted a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in 2011 seeking to discharge credit card debts and child support arrears. Upon notification of this filing, Juliya Virovlyanskiy reviewed her former husband’s application and noticed Aleksandr failed to include income he received from Russia in 2009 and 2010. Worried that her husband would potentially seek to use a bankruptcy discharge as a means to have his child support obligations reduced, Juliya brought an adversary proceeding to challenge Aleksandr’s filing.
Child support arrears, or unpaid child support payments, are not dischargeable in bankruptcy and the debtor is required to make those payments despite a discharge of debts. Worried that Juliya may not have standing, chief judge of Brooklyn’s bankruptcy court, Carla Craig, allowed her to plead her case as to why she could be harmed by Aleksandr’s potential debt discharge.