a. How did the court determine whether or not the student loans would be dischargeable?
b. Why did Congress choose to make student loans a debt than cannot be discharged?
c. What were the Kellys been unable to show undue hardship?
Lisa Kelly had a B.S. in Elementary Education and a master's in Special Education. She worked at an elementary school in Florida. Her husband, Adam, had a B.A. in Fine Arts with a concentration in Digital Cinema. He worked remotely from their home for a television station in Michigan, so that he could provide care for one of their sons. Noah, who was18 months old had been born with spina bifida, in which the backbone and spinal canal do not close before birth He also had hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid inside the skull that leads to brain swelling. Noah had already undergone two surgeries and faced large on-going medical expenses. Under their health insurance plan, the family had to pay 20 percent of the cost of their medical care.
The Kellys annual income totaled approximately $70,000; their combined educational loans exceeded $160,000. When the Kellys filed for bankruptcy, they asked the court to discharge these student loans