In July 2015, Stewart A. Sutton was retained to reduce an alimony arrears to a judgment. The client was owed $112,000 in alimony. The former spouse had filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition; and he erroneously believed that the automatic stay applied to his alimony obligation. The bankruptcy code expressly exempts the entry of an award of alimony and the enforcement of an alimony award from the automatic stay. The former spouse eventually consented to a $112,000 alimony arrears judgment along with an award of $1,875 in attorney’s fees incurred to enforce the alimony award.
