Child Support Enforcement - Sarpy County Nebraska

Bankruptcy
Changes to federal bankruptcy laws that took effect in October 2005 have
streamlined the process for enforcing child support orders against obligated parents
who have filed for protection under federal bankruptcy law. Generally, any enforcement
action you are able to utilize against an obligated parent who is not in bankruptcy court
may also be utilized against an obligated parent who has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Please see www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pol/AT/2006/at-06-05.htm for more
information. A useful “Q & A” series on the relationship between child support and
bankruptcy may be found at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pol/AT/2006/at-06-
05a.pdf
By letter from Nebraska‘s HHSS‘ Administrator of the Office of Economic and
Family Support, county and authorized attorneys are asked to file Proofs of Claim with
bankruptcy courts for all cases where you are notified that an obligated parent has filed
for bankruptcy protection, regardless under which Chapter (7, 12 or 13) the filing took
place. This recommendation recognizes that child support debt is not dischargeable
under federal bankruptcy law, and that even if a Proof of Claim is not filed child support
is absolutely protected from discharge. However by filing a proof of claim you are
serving notice on the court and the trustee of the exact amount of the child support (and
spousal support, where applicable) debt, and this should increase the likelihood that
enough assets will be set aside in a Chapter 13 case to allow for the repayment of the
support obligation in a timely manner. An exception would be if the ―Notice of Chapter
__ Bankruptcy Case‖ instructs you not to file a proof of claim.
The federal judiciary has posted a primmer on “Bankruptcy Basics” at
http://www.uscourts.gov/bankruptcycourts/bankruptcybasics.html
The link for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nebraska is:
http://www.neb.uscourts.gov/. You may access sample completed forms, as well as
complete Proof of Claim and other forms online via the website, under the ―Resources‖
tab. A helpful link to the U.S. Trustee Program may be found here.
Nebraska‘s HHSS office has listed Sam Kaplan as a contact for those with
questions, or needing information. His phone number is 402-471-9263.
Erica J. v. Dewitt, 265 Neb. 728, 659 N.W.2d 315 (2003)
Facts: In modification action the child support referee gave the noncustodial parent a dollar for
dollar deduction against his newly recalculated child support amount on account of a bankruptcy
repayment plan he was paying on. The referee compared the bankruptcy repayment plan to a
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