Rugiero v. DiNardo (In re Rugiero)
- Citation:
- 6th Cir. Court of Appeals (E.D. Michigan Oct. 10, 2012)
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- AFFIRMING the lower court's ruling that debtor's attorney fees that arose out of a child-custody dispute is non-dischargeable.
- Procedural context:
- Debtor, Rugiero, filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy after a family court judgment in favor of the mother of debtor's child, DiNardo, for attorney fees. Debtor filed a motion in state court for stay pending his appeal of the judgment and DiNardo filed an opposition indicating an exception to the automatic stay under 11 USC Section 362(a) and further argued the debts were non-dischargeable. Debtor also filed a motion in the bankruptcy court to enforce the automatic stay. Both the state court and the bankruptcy court denied his motion, debtor appeals that decision.
- Facts:
- Patrick Rugiero and Antonietta DiNardo are unmarried parents of two minor children. In the course of the child-custody dispute, the Wayne County Circuit Court ordered Rugiero to pay $100k in attorney fees. Soon after, Rugiero filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy. In an attempt to challenge the judgment, Rugiero filed a motion for stay pending his appeal of the state court judgment and also a motion to impose the stay his current chapter 13 case to defeat the $100k judgment. The state court and bankruptcy court motions were denied under 11 USC Section 362(a).
- Judge(s):
- Sutton, Griffin, and White.
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