Hamilton v. Youngblood (In re Hamilton)

Summarized by Bruce Weiner , Rosenberg, Musso & Weiner
13 years 1 week ago

Citation:

AZ-11-1670

Tag(s):

Ruling:

Ninth Circuit BAP affirmed the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona. The Debtor argued in the Bankruptcy Court that two judgments for fees awarded to his ex-wife were void because at a subsequent hearing in state court for child support, the state court declined to award fees. The Debtor's argument had been rejected in state court. The Bankruptcy Court then found that the fee awards were non-dischargeable under Section 532(a)(5) and the Debtor appealed. On appeal, the BAP held that the Debtor could not challenge the validity of state court judgments because under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, a federal court cannot correct mistakes allegedly made by a state court. The BAP went on to find that the fee awards were made in connections with a dissolution proceeding or in a custody proceeding, were a domestic support obligation, and therefore non-dischargeable under Section 523(a)(5), and to the extent not covered by that section, they were non-discharegeable under Section 523(a)(15).

Procedural context:

Appeal from the Bankruptcy Court District of Arizona to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel ofthe Ninth Circuit.

Facts:

Debtor's ex-wife was awarded two judgment for attorneys fees and costs in connection with matrimonial and related proceedings in state court. At a subsequent proceeding in state court concerning child support, the state court declined to award fees. The Debtor argued in state court, that this meant that the prior fee awards were vacated. The state court disagreed and did not vacate the prior judgments. After the Debtor filed, he made the same argument in the Bankruptcy Court. The Bankruptcy Court rejected his argument, and found that the fee award judgments were non-dischargeable domestic support obligations under Section 532(a)(5). The Debtor appealed to the BAP.

Judge(s):

Taylor, Pappas, and Markell

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