Bankruptcy Indiana

One thing continually proves true for me as a debt consolidation lawyer providing bankruptcy services in Indiana: Family law and bankruptcy law are, more often than not, intertwined.  In fact, less than one month ago, I lectured to other Indiana attorneys on this very subject, at the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum.

Although the four Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices are all in Indiana, sometimes it's useful to use bankruptcy court cases from other states as a teaching tool to help me offier Indiana bankruptcy information to clients and readers. This particular case illustrates some of the things I've been writing about wage garnishment, as well as some of the things I teach about divorce, bankruptcy, and child support issues.

Here's what happened:

• An employer received an order to withhold income from G.'s wages.
   
• The employer fired G. after having warned him that a withholding order would mean losing his job.
   
• G. sued, saying the law prohibits employers from firing employees based solely on wage garnishment.
   
• The employer claimed that Missouri is an "employment at will" state, and that he could fire any employee at any time for any reason. As a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, I need to point out that Indiana is also an "employment at will" state!
  
• The court ruled in favor of G., saying he should not have been fired.  The court based its ruling on the principle that, similar to jury duty, child support is a legal obligation enforced by the courts for the good of society. Therefore, employees should not be terminated just because the employer received child support withholding orders.

The real principle at work here, of course, is getting needed support to children.  G. would obviously be in a better position to maintain his child support payments if he kept his job.

The second "lesson" that I want to point out here is that, under the bankruptcy laws of Indiana, child support obligations cannot be discharged by bankruptcy.  On the other hand, as all the good bankruptcy attorneys who work in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices can attest, bankruptcy can bring relief to individuals like G.  That's because, with the pressure caused by creditor harassment stopped by the automatic stay (that is part of bankruptcy in Indiana), it becomes easier to keep up with child support obligations!