Bankruptcy — intentional torts — nondischargeability

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Bankruptcy — intentional torts — nondischargeability

A claim for loss of consortium derivative of a willful and malicious injury is not dischargeable in bankruptcy.

“We can’t find an appellate case on this precise point—the nondischargeability of a claim for loss of consortium derivative from a willful and malicious injury. But that it is not dischargeable follows directly not only from the cases dealing with punitive damages but also from cases that hold that debts arising from wrongful-death suits are not dischargeable even when the creditor fighting discharge is not the victim of the wrongful death but the victim’s estate or the estate’s representative. Fezler v. Davis, 194 F.3d 570, 574 (5th Cir. 1999); Smith v. Pitner, 696 F.2d 447, 447-49 (6th Cir. 1982) (per curiam).”

Affirmed.

11-1256 Jendusa-Nicolai v. Larsen

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Stadtmueller, J., Posner, J.