Can an ex-wife enforce an affidavit of support against her debtor ex-husband in bankruptcy court after the state divorce court has already terminated spousal support?
No, the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, of the First Circuit ruled in the case of In re Schwartz, Bankrupty No. 06-13696 WCH (August 26, 2008), an appeal from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. The Appellant ex-wife, who was a citizen of Israel, and the Appellee ex-husband had been married in 1996. In order to obtain permanent resident status for his foreign-born wife, the husband filed the required Form I-864 Affidavit of Support (“Affidavit of Support”), with what was then the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service under the Department of Homeland Security) as his wife’s sponsor, promising to support his wife at a level above 125% of the federal poverty guidelines, and to reimburse the government should she ever fall below that level and become a public charge, subject to termination upon certain conditions, not including divorce. On January 6, 2003, the wife filed for divorce from the husband in Oklahoma state divorce court. On December 18, 2003, the Oklahoma State Court issued a Decree of Divorce allocating the assets and liabilities of the parties and terminating the husband’s obligation to support the wife as of June 1, 2004.
In Schwartz, the wife made a motion for reconsideration of prior order dismissing her adversary proceeding to enforce the Chapter 7 debtor ex-husband’s support affidavit and for a determination that his obligations thereunder were nondischargeable. The bankruptcy court judge had dismissed the adversary proceeding for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. On appeal, the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel ruled that the Bankruptcy court did not err by dismissing the proceeding, where ex-wife’s (Appellant’s) cause of action was barred by Rooker-Feldman doctrine or by res judicata effect of state divorce court’s prior judgment. Furthermore, ex-wife presented no newly discovered evidence, but simply sought to rehash prior arguments. 11 U.S.C.A. § 523(a)(5); Fed.Rules Civ.Proc.Rule 59(e); 28 U.S.C.A 1334.
If the Affidavit of Support had been considered by the state divorce court judge in rendering its decision to terminate support, then the wife’s claim in bankruptcy court was barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, which prohibits lower federal courts, including the United States Bankruptcy Courts, from reviewing final state court judgments. On the other hand, if the Affidavit of Support had not been submitted in the divorce proceedings, the wife’s claim was nevertheless barred under the doctrine of res judicata , which “prohibits all parties and their privies from relitigating issues which were raised or could have been raised in a previous action, once a court has entered a final judgment on the merits in the previous action.” The First Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Court affirmed the bankruptcy court’s dismissal on reliance on the Rooker-Feldman doctrine (Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co. (1923) 263 U.S. 413 (Van Devanter) ; D.C. Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462 (1983).
You should consult with your Virginia bankruptcy or divorce lawyer concerning the possible application of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine to your contemplated litigation of family law matters in bankruptcy court.