In re Patterson
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 33664 (1997)
- Written by Haley Gintis, JD
Facts
Paul A. Patterson (defendant) filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Paul’s former wife, Janie M. Patterson (plaintiff) filed a complaint with the bankruptcy court for a determination that Paul’s obligation under their divorce decree was nondischargeable. In response, Paul argued that he was unable to pay the debt owed to Janie because the child-support obligations exceeded his income and because he had hurt his hand, which limited his ability to work. However, the bankruptcy court found that the obligations did not exceed Paul’s income and rejected the argument that Paul’s injury affected his work. The bankruptcy court also found that there would be an extreme detriment to Janie and the child if the debt was deemed dischargeable. Based on the bankruptcy court’s finding, the court held that the debt Paul owed to Janie was not dischargeable. Paul appealed. The district court affirmed. Paul appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
