Beecher Bankruptcy Attorney Describes Debts That Are Non-Dischargeab...

Debts that are non-dischargeable are court ordered payments and government payments.  These include but are not limited to taxes, municipal fines, child support, domestic support obligations and student loans.  But not all these are non-dischargeable all the time.  For instance, if you filed your taxes three years ago and they were filed on time, that tax debt is old tax debt and therefore can be eliminated in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Most other court ordered payments or payments to the government are not dischargeable debt. 

Also, one thing to be aware of is that if you have signed another instrument like a divorce decree which requires you to pay that debt, then even though you can discharge that debt in bankruptcy, you could be held in contempt of court for violating your divorce decree by discharging some debt in bankruptcy.  Really, the rule of thumb to think about is taxes, municipal fines, student loans and parking tickets are the four main categories of debt that are generally non-dischargeable.