Elderly Debtors Eliminate Student Loans In Personal Bankruptcy

A current trend in Case Law has increased the circumstances where personal bankruptcy can be used to eliminate student loans.  Typically to eliminate a student loan a debtor must show that they have attempted to make payments in the past, though they cannot make payments currently and they will not be able to make payments in the future.  The last requirement is often difficult to prove unless somebody has been determined to be permanently disabled. However, recently there have been a number of cases where elderly debtors have been allowed to discharge the student loans.  In doing so the courts look at the totality of circumstances to determine whether it is indeed unlikely that a debtor will be able to pay off the loan in the future.  The debtor’s age, income circumstances and the amount of the debt are all factors that the court can consider.