Judgments

• Judgements are court orders to pay civil debts. Any person or entity that you owe money to has a right to take you into civil court and request a judgment. The judgment is then filed with the county clerk and can lead to wage assignments and property liens. Judgment amounts typically include not only the debt amount plus interest, but also court costs, filing fees and any attorney fees the creditor incurred in obtaining the judgment.
  
  

Court Debts

• Court debts include probation fees, court costs assigned as part of criminal sentencing, alimony and child support. Some probation and court costs are civilly driven, while others are overseen through the general sessions or criminal court process. Court debts can also include ordered restitution for criminal actions, such as paying for a vehicle you ran into while you were drunk driving. Alimony and child support sometimes become court debts, depending on whether you are behind, and what the county of record does to enforce child support and alimony orders.
  
  

What Can Be Discharged

• Most judgments can be discharged as part of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The exception is when the judgment is due to malicious or criminal behavior. For example, if you became angry and ran over your neighbor's prize rose garden and he obtained a judgment ordering you to replace the flowers, as well as pay a professional gardener to install them, you will not be able to discharge that judgment as part of your bankruptcy. If, however, the judgment against you is from a hospital that treated you when you had a heart attack, you will be allowed to discharge that judgment. Court debts, for the most part, cannot be discharged due to their very nature. Child support and alimony are not items you can discharge, and usually are tied to a court debt. Restitution for criminal acts, probation and parole fees, as well as court costs in criminal actions, are all considered court debts and none of them are typically discharged during bankruptcy. If you have a court debt not due to criminal actions, malicious intent or negligence, the bankruptcy court will usually allow you to include it for discharge.
  
  

Fraud

• Any debt secured by fraud will not be considered for discharge. If you lied on a credit application, received a credit card and ran it up without paying for it, you cannot discharge the debt. The judgment the credit card company obtains against you regarding that debt also cannot be discharged. If you were honest on the credit card application and simply cannot pay the bill, you will be allowed to request for the debt be discharged during your bankruptcy. Any judgments or court debts you would normally be able to have discharged, but forget to include in the bankruptcy, cannot be discharged later.