Child support and bankruptcy

[special111]

I am wondering if you are automatically put in a 13 when you have child support arrears?

[justbroke]

No. A Chapter 13 is a "voluntary" bankruptcy proceeding and no one can put you in one without your consent. Having wrote that, you may want to consider a Chapter if you have a significant amount of arrears in your domestic support obligations (DSO).

The real issue with child support is the enforcement of the arrears. If you choose a Chapter 7 you will not discharge any of the debt (you can't in a Chapter 13 either) and you will still need to deal with the arrears. If you choose a Chapter 13 you can catch up on the arrears (missed payments) but, just as in Chapter 7, must continue to make your ongoing payments on time. You cannot "complete" your Chapter 13 unless all of your DSOs are current or paid in full.

Bankruptcy may give you a slight pause (due to the automatic stay), but that won't stop those that enforce these domestic support obligations from seeking relief from the bankruptcy court.

You will need to think about a strategy as to whether a Chapter 13 is better than the Chapter 7. While you get the (almost) immediate discharge in Chapter 7, it puts you right back in the spot where you were before you filed (owing the DSOs). Perhaps a Chapter 7 discharge could be advantageous if it discharges a lot of unsecured debt and you can then "afford" to not only catchup on the DSO payments, but also to keep making on time payments in the future.

I hope that helps.