Opinion ID: 2273833
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: State Courts Have Jurisdiction to Construe Discharge and Determine if Particular Debt is Within Discharge.

Text: Before we address the merits on this issue, we must first address whether Kentucky state courts have jurisdiction to determine the dischargeability of a debt. As we recently stated, [w]hile . . . state courts lack jurisdiction to modify or to grant relief from a bankruptcy court's discharge injunction, they retain, with a few exceptions not pertinent here, concurrent jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1334(b) to construe the discharge and determine whether a particular debt is or is not within the discharge. [16] We also note recent federal authority that: Aside from determinations of dischargeability under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2), (4), or (6) [not implicated in present case], state courts have concurrent jurisdiction to determine the dischargeability of a debt. [17] So Kentucky state courts have jurisdiction to determine whether Shane's obligation to make payments on the bank loan on the repossessed Durango was discharged in his Chapter 7 bankruptcy.