## Facts

- Marguerite C. Shine and Louis M. Shine married in 1969 and separated in 1972 without a support agreement.
- In 1973, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia entered a separate maintenance order requiring Louis to pay Marguerite $250 per month.
- In 1975, a Virginia court granted a divorce decree that made no provision for alimony or support and referenced no property settlement agreement.
- Louis accrued arrears under the D.C. support order.
- In 1976, the D.C. court entered a judgment for $9,045 in arrears due as of June 1, 1976.
- By an August 1976 consent decree, the D.C. court vacated the support order only as to payments due after June 1, 1976, leaving the arrearage judgment intact.
- Louis did not pay the arrearage judgment.
- In 1982, Marguerite sued in federal district court in New Hampshire to collect the arrears; the action was stayed when Louis filed for bankruptcy.
- Marguerite filed an adversary complaint in the bankruptcy court seeking a ruling that the arrearage judgment was nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(5).

## Issues

1. Whether an unpaid spousal support debt reduced to judgment and arising from a separate maintenance order is dischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(5) when the obligation is not expressly contained in a separation agreement, divorce decree, or property settlement agreement.

## Decision

- The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment reversing the bankruptcy court.
- The court held the debt was nondischargeable under § 523(a)(5) as a support obligation owed to a former spouse.
- The court rejected a reading of § 523(a)(5) that would make dischargeability turn on whether support was memorialized in one of the listed marital instruments rather than on the nature of the debt.

## Legal Principles

- For § 523(a)(5), bankruptcy courts determine whether a debt is actually “alimony, maintenance, or support” by examining the substance and function of the obligation, not the label or procedural form.
- The phrase “in connection with a separation agreement, divorce decree, or property settlement agreement” is construed to cover bona fide support obligations arising from marital separation and dissolution proceedings, including court-ordered separate maintenance.
- Section 523(a)(5) is applied to prevent bankruptcy discharge from relieving debtors of genuine domestic support responsibilities.

## Conclusion

The First Circuit held that arrears on a court-ordered separate maintenance obligation constituted nondischargeable spousal support under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(5), even though the support order was not incorporated into a separation agreement, divorce decree, or property settlement agreement.


Shine v. Shine, 802 F.2d 583 (1st Cir. 1986)