My husband was ordered to pay attorney's fees to his ex-wife after their divorce was final. They settled their case and it says in the final decree that each will be responsible for their own bills. This is not alimony, child support or anything else, it is simply attorney's fees. It is almost 18,000 dollars and we cannot pay it. He tried to file Chapter 7 and she is now challenging whether this debt is dischargeable. All we want is a fresh start... what are our next steps?

If it is dischargeable as far as I'm concerned the divorce was based on fraud. Your husband said he would pay the fees and has not. If he knew he could not at the time of the divorce, well, I see some fraud here.

I'm amazed that an Attorney let him get $18,000 ahead of the billing!

He answers her challenge with the facts. Do you have a Bankruptcy Attorney? If not, get one.

When was this bill due?

He was ordered to pay the fees, he never said he would. This is not something he offered to do. My husband paid all of his fees up front and in cash when they were due. His ex-wife took them back to court after the divorce was final and sued him to pay her attorney's fees. He has paid everything else he has been ordered to, 18,000 dollars is a huge hardship on my family.

You do realize that "he was ORDERED to pay the fees, he never OFFERED to do so" is actually amusing. People in Court all the time don't OFFER to pay the fine; they are ORDERED to do so.

That's the cost of doing business in your State (apparently).

$18,000 would be a huge hardship to anyone's family in this economy.

So now there are more questions in order to provide an answer for you - when was the divorce; when was the Bankruptcy; when was the Order to pay Attorney's fees? What was the time frame between the divorce and bankruptcy?