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LAW OFFICES OF GEOFFREY D. MUELLER, LLC

366 Kinderkamack Road
Westwood, New Jersey 07675
610 East Palisade Avenue
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632
2 William Street - Suite 304
White Plains, New York 10601
Phone: (201) 569-2533 Fax: (201) 569-2554

Student Loan Found as "Special Circumstance" in Chapter 7 Discharge - In re Howell, 11-12685 B

Per The New York Law Journal:

"A Western District bankruptcy judge has found that a debtor's non-dischargeable student loan obligation is a "special circumstance" that can overcome the statutory presumption of abuse when a higher-income debtor attempts to eliminate financial obligations under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

"Chief Judge Carl Bucki's recent decision in In re Jeffrey Howell and Rebecca Howell, 11-12685, is the latest in a plethora of rulings on an issue that has divided courts all over the country. Bankruptcy judges in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Delaware, Oklahoma and Georgia have reached the same conclusion as Bucki; judges in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arizona, Kansas and New Hampshire have come to the opposite conclusion."

More after the jump, including the full decision...