Student loans tend to be one of the main reasons for stress in Americans who owe them, there are many cases in which they drain the life out of people who agree on going into massive debt because they want to have a career. There are some cases in which former students want to file for bankruptcy because paying for these student loans becomes a life-threatening burden. That’s where many of them can actually apply to get their student loans discharged but this process is not easy and not everybody gets approved to go through it. This process can only happen if you file a separate action, known as ‘adversary proceeding‘. It consists on requesting the bankruptcy court find that repayment would impose undue hardship on you and your dependents.
Under what circumstances can I have my loan discharged in bankruptcy?
First of all, you need to file for bankruptcy and prove to court that repaying your student loans can cause undue hardship. Maybe you already started a family and supporting them as the main provider has proven extremely difficult. After the evidence is presented to the bankruptcy court,an adversary proceeding needs to decide whether you are eligible for bankruptcy or not. Creditors may be present to challenge your request. But this undue hardship can sometimes become hard to determine despite bankruptcy courts not using a single test to determine undue hardship. However, they do look at the facts in order to determine how much hardship repaying your loans can cause.
These factors can be if you are forced to repay the loan, you couldn’t be able to maintain a standard of living that is considered minimal. Another factor is when there is evidence that this hardship will go on for an important portion of the loan repayment period. Also, there is a factor that has to do with the good faith efforts you made to repay the loan before you filed for bankruptcy. If the court considers these repayments cause undue hardship, your loan may be fully discharged and you won’t have to repay any portion of this loan. You can also get your loan partially discharged and will be required to pay only a portion of the loan. Also, you could be required to repay the loan under different terms that suit your situation better.