In re Endo

Discharge - Debtor was not entitled to complete discharge, on balance of benefits/harms theory, of $850,000 property settlement debt.

A Chapter 7 debtor who, after adjusting his expenses to account for unreasonable or excessive expenditures, such as the $900 per month that the debtor spent in golfing and an additional $325 per month as a recreational expense, had roughly $4,700 per month in net income available to pay a $850,000 property settlement obligation to his former wife was not entitled to a complete discharge of this debt. The benefit to the debtor of discharging this debt did not outweigh the detriment to former wife, whose comparatively small earning potential had caused her to liquidate approximately $250,000 in assets since the time the parties' marriage was dissolved four years earlier. However, the court granted a partial discharge based on that portion of this $850,000 debt which the debtor's net monthly disposable income of $4,700 would allow him to pay.