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  1. #1
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    Default Can a Private School Withhold Student Records After a Parents' Bankruptcy

    My question involves bankruptcy in the state of: Tennessee
    Can a private middle school withhold a student's records after the parents have filed the school in their Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Can a Private School Withhold Student Records After a Parents' Bankruptcy

    The first question is whether the debt was incurred prior to the filing of the bankruptcy petition, such that it was discharged in bankruptcy, or subsequent to the filing of the petition, such that it was not included in the bankruptcy. If the debt was not included in the bankruptcy, the school's standard policies apply. The parents can consider a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, as if they are eligible that would allow them to restructure the debt and entitle them to get their child's records.

    If the debt was incurred prior to bankruptcy and was discharged, then there is authority from the Sixth Circuit, the federal appellate court circuit that includes Tennessee, that it is improper to withhold a debtor's transcript following the filing of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and there is authority from other states that extends that principle to situations where a child is refused a transcript over tuition debt that the child's parents have discharged in bankruptcy, predicated upon the conclusion that the demand on the child for payment amounts to an improper attempt to enforce the parent's discharged debt. (There are also cases that hold otherwise, where the debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy, but you haven't indicated any facts that would suggest the child's tuition debt to be nondischargeable.)

    If the debt has been discharged, you should speak with your bankruptcy lawyer about bringing a motion to show cause against the school in the bankruptcy court, basically asking that the school either produce the transcripts or that it be held in contempt for its continuing refusal.

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