bankruptcy, student loans, and judges

When the bankruptcy law was overhauled in 2005, there were major changes regarding discharge of student loans. In the last, certain student loans could be discharged including private, non-government guaranteed loans and ones that were very old. Now, even those cannot be discharged. The only exception is for “hardship” which has been decided is almost exclusively for permanent disability of the debtor or, maybe, the debtor’s child.

On another note, Judge Krum, the bankruptcy judge for the Western District of Virginia for over 20 years, announced that he is retiring. A new judge has not been determined yet.

In Frederick County, Virginia, we are still waiting to find out which judge the General Assembly will choose to replace Judge Prosser who retired in February of this year. There are several names up for consideration. Meanwhile, the circuit judges of Winchester and Shenandoah Counties along with retired judges from other circuits are doing their best to keep Frederick County’s docket current.