Opinion ID: 853860
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Obligation to Pay Pre-dissolution Debts of the Couple

Text: The 1996 decree ordered Cowart to pay $1,171 in back property taxes to redeem the property awarded to White and an unspecified amount of past due taxes on the other properties that he had been initially ordered to pay in the preliminary order. Cowart failed to pay the taxes and White paid them in an effort to prevent tax sales. The 1997 order ordered Cowart to reimburse White for these amounts. The obligation to reimburse White for back taxes is not nondischargeable in the nature of a maintenance or support obligation. The 1996 decree essentially divided the responsibility to pay the debts of the marriage between Cowart and White. The court assigned the responsibility to pay the taxes to Cowart. There is no indication that the trial court intended this obligation to be in the nature of maintenance or support. Moreover, the taxes cannot be characterized as providing for White's daily needs because they do not secure her residence. In sum, Cowart's obligation to White to pay the taxes under the 1996 decree was discharged as a pre-petition debt. The trial court also ordered Cowart to pay the Visa bill in the 1997 order. The Visa bill was a pre-petition debt that was discharged by Cowart's bankruptcy.