Goranson v. Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (In Re Goranson)

DECISION AFTER TRIAL

MICHAEL J. KAPLAN, Chief Judge.

This adversary proceeding was initiated by the Debtor, Carole Goranson, in an effort to have her student loan indebtedness declared dischargeable as an undue hardship under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8). The difficulty in this case arises in trying to apply traditional “hardship” analysis to a Chapter 13 case. The Court today rules that a debtor should neither be penalized nor aided by the fact that some of her payments are being made through a Chapter 13 Trustee. Proper hardship analysis requires reference to the Chapter 7 analogue to the present…