Bankruptcy

1. New Jersey Chapter 7 Bankruptcy FAQs by Catherine A. Ross, Esq.



2. Law Lessons from LARBIG v. LARBIG (App. Div., A-6030-03T3, approved for publication February 2, 2006):
   
   In the bankruptcy setting, it is federal law, and not state law, that determines the nature of the obligations contained in the PSA. Weingarden v. Weingarden, 316 N.J. Super. 52, 60 (App. Div. 1998). That question is governed by the intent of the parties. Gianakas, 917 F.2d at 762.
   
   The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit described the manner of ascertaining the intent of the parties, in this context, in the following way:
   First, the court must examine the language and substance of the agreement in the context of surrounding circumstances, using extrinsic evidence if necessary. . . . Because the language of the agreement alone may not provide a sufficiently conclusive answer as to the nature of an obligation,
   the second indicator to which we must look to assist in ascertaining the parties' intent is the parties' financial circumstances at the time of the settlement. . . .
   Third, the court should examine the function served by the obligation at the time of the divorce or settlement.
   [Id. at 762-63.]
   
   Gianakas's three-part test first requires a determination as to whether the PSA is ambiguous. If it is, then there must be resort to extrinsic evidence, but, if not, the agreement should be enforced as written.



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