In re: Charles Kassicieh v.

ELECTRONIC CITATION: 2012 FED App. 0011P (6th Cir.) File Name: 12b0011p.06

BANKRUPTCY APPELLATE PANEL OF THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

In re: CHARLES KASSICIEH, ) ) Debtor. ) ______________________________________ ) ) CHARLES KASSICIEH, ) ) Plaintiff-Appellant, ) No. 12-8015 ) v. ) ) EUGENE F. BATTISTI, JR., ) ) Defendant-Appellee. ) ______________________________________ ) )

Appeal from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio Case No. 07-54523; Adv. No. 08-2250

Argued: November 13, 2012

Decided and Filed: November 27, 2012

Before: EMERSON, HARRIS, and McIVOR, Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judges.

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COUNSEL

ARGUED: Michael T. Gunnar, Hilliard, Ohio, for Appellant. Judith M. McInturff, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Michael T. Gunnar, Hilliard, Ohio, for Appellant. Judith M. McInturff, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee.

Case No. 12-8015 In re: Kassicieh

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OPINION ____________________

ARTHUR I. HARRIS, Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judge. This appeal presents the issue of whether fees owed to a court-appointed guardian ad litem constitute a “domestic support obligation” under Section 101(14A) of the Bankruptcy Code and are therefore a nondischargeable debt. After reviewing the record, the parties’ briefs, and applicable law, and after the benefit of oral argument, the Panel concludes that the bankruptcy court did not err in determining that the fees owed to the guardian ad litem constitute a “domestic support obligation.” Accordingly, the fees owed are nondischargeable under Section 523(a)(5) of the Bankruptcy Code, and we affirm for the reasons stated in the bankruptcy court’s well-written opinion entered on March 30, 2012, In re Kassicieh, 467 B.R. 445 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio 2012).

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