If you can prove that repaying your student loans would cause an undue hardship to you, you can get rid of your student loans in bankruptcy.
Student Loan Debt in Bankruptcy
The fact is, the right debtor, with the right circumstances, can discharge their student loans easily enough through bankruptcy.
The better fact is, Judges are asking, even begging, for some of these cases.
They see cases ripe for discharge but are unable to say a word because of their position.
What does that mean?
It means we all need to seriously reconsider why we fear the difficulty of discharging student loans in bankruptcy.
Student loan borrowers in the United States collectively owe almost $1.5 trillion in student debt, and according to the Brookings Institute, almost 40 percent of borrowers will default on their student loans by 2023.
Currently, it is nearly impossible to have your student debt forgiven during bankruptcy — but that may soon change. In February, the Department of Education announced that it will review and potentially alter policies that make it difficult for student debt to be discharged in bankruptcy
1. Making student loan payments would keep you from maintaining a minimal standard of living based on your current income and expenses. To meet this prong, you generally must have bare-bones expenses and must have done everything in your power to increase your income, without success.
2. Additional circumstances make it very likely that your financial situation will persist for a significant portion of your remaining loan period. Among other things, you may be able to successfully meet this prong if you have a serious mental or physical disability, received a poor-quality education or have maximized your income potential in your field.
3. You’ve made “good faith” efforts to repay your loans. You may meet this prong by making some loan payments, attempting to negotiate a payment plan and working to slash unnecessary expenses and increase income.
