Opinion ID: 572756
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Required showing under section 523(a)(6)

Text: 30 Section 523(a)(6) provides that a debt for willful and malicious injury by the debtor will not be discharged. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6). Willful, in this context, means deliberate or intentional. H.R.Rep. No. 595, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 365, reprinted in 1978 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 5787, 5963, 6320-21; see Impulsora del Territorio Sur, S.A. v. Cecchini (In re Cecchini), 780 F.2d 1440, 1443 (9th Cir.1986). Thus, the creditor must show the debtor acted intentionally. The intent required is intent to do the act at issue, not intent to injure the victim. C.I.T. Fin. Serv., Inc. v. Posta (In re Posta), 866 F.2d 364, 367 (10th Cir.1989) (The 'willful' element is straightforward. It simply addresses whether the debtor intentionally performed the basic act complained of.). 31 To prove malice, the creditor must make a further showing. The creditor need not prove that the debtor specifically intended to injure the creditor. See Cecchini, 780 F.2d at 1443. However, the creditor must show the debtor's actual knowledge or the reasonable foreseeability that his conduct will result in injury to the creditor. Posta, 866 F.2d at 367. In its leading case on this issue, the Ninth Circuit has stated: When a wrongful act such as conversion, done intentionally, necessarily produces harm and is without just cause or excuse, it is 'willful or malicious' even absent proof of a specific intent to injure. Cecchini, 780 F.2d at 1443. As set forth in Cecchini, the act must necessarily cause harm to the creditor, but the creditor need not show that the debtor acted with an intent to harm the creditor. Transamerica Commercial Finance Corporation v. Littleton (In re Littleton), 942 F.2d 551, 555 (9th Cir.1991); see also Andrews v. Manser (In re Manser), 99 B.R. 434, 436 (Bankr.9th Cir.1989) (test for nondischargeability under section 523(a)(6) is: 1--whether the appellant committed a wrongful and intentional act; 2--whether such action produced harm; and 3--whether such action was without just cause or excuse.). 32