Case Summary:
Mr. Myhre sought to have his student loan discharged. Mr. Myhre was injured in a swimming pool accident in which he broke his neck and became a quadriplegic. Since the accident he has required a live-in caregiver for assistance with all daily needs, including eating, dressing, and bathing. After several years of depending on Social Security disability payments, he decided to attend school and learn computer programming in an attempt to support himself. He received an associate’s degree but was still unable to find work for five years. After returning to school again to further his computer programming education, he finally secured a full-time position. The U.S. Department of Education argued that Mr. Myhre should have to repay his student loan because he had full-time employment. The Bankruptcy Court found that with the increased cost of living as a quadriplegic, Mr. Myhre was unable to afford even a minimum payment on his student loan. Even without making any payment on his student loan, Mr. Myhre was unable to make ends meet and was depending on the generosity of his caregiver to get by. The bankruptcy noted that the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently injected common sense into its consideration of § 523(a)(8) in Krieger v. Educ. Credit Mgmt. Corp., 713 F.3d 882 (7th Cir. 2013), declining to require that certainty of hopelessness and proof of prior payment overwhelm the inquiry into the future burden of the debt in question to the Debtor’s anticipated livelihood. In light of Krieger, the Bankruptcy Court held it would be an undue hardship on Mr. Myhre to require him to pay back his student loan.

Statute/Rule References:
Wis. Stat. § 409.108 -- Sufficiency of Description
Wis. Stat. § 409.203 -- Security Interests - Attachment and Enforceability

Key Terms:
Security Interests - Attachment