If you signed the promissory note, you are responsible for the debt.

If your dad took on a parental student loan in his name and signed the promissory note, he is responsible for the debt.

Call the bank and ask for a copy of the promissory note.

Most 18 year olds are desperately naive when it comes to the question of student loans and interest and eventual repayment.

Does that inflated figure account for interest or mere principal?

Interest rates are pretty low right now-- I would suggest trying to consolidate in the next month or so if you can.

Consult a lawyer or a credit counseling service. Don't sue your Dad. He paid alot more than $8600 over the course of your lifetime to keep you fed housed and clothed. Just educate yourself. Ask for an apology if your Dad encouraged you to sign a promissory note for more than you had bargained for and then suck it up. No good will come from suing your father, he doesn't have the money to repay you and you will only make things harder on both of you.

Never ever sign another promissory note or contract without first educating yourself clearly and understanding the consequences of your actions.

Student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy except in cases of extreme undue hardship.

If the father fraudulently signed the LW's name to the promissory note, then he may be criminally prosecuted for fraud and identity theft.

The LW can take it to the bank and argue fraud to get out of paying the debt, but he has to weigh that against the likelihood that the bank will file criminal charges and his father will wind up in prison.

That is a serious consideration, isn't it? I know a woman whose son fraudulently opened credit cards in her name and she opted to pay off the debt rather than get her son into the kind of trouble that could land him in prison. Her son got into other kinds of trouble anyhow, her enabling notwithstanding.

But I certainly feel sympathy for the LW if that is the question he is facing. I would be angry, too, if my parent committed fraud against me. I doubt I would have the ability to force my own parent to face a criminal indictment, however, over eight grand used to pay household bills.

If the LW signed the promissory note blindly, however, shame on him for not knowing any better than to protect his interests.

The beating happened on a public street involving two very famous people. It is public information.

But I am horrified by the number of people who defend Chris Brown. I was listening to the Tom Joyner Morning Show this morning and was horrified by the fact that 3 of the 4 DJs had to repeatedly make the point, "hitting is wrong, but we don't know if she hit him first."

Look, we are all over the issue of whether the woman beheaded in Buffalo NY was the victim of a Muslim honor killing or not.

We are so quick to point out that so much of muslim/arab culture supports violence against women.

Yet look at this culture. Look at the African-American community that is so divided and so eager to defend Chris Brown and not let this "poor young kid's" life and career get destroyed over a "youthful mistake" and go so far as to speculate openly whether Rhianna hit him first or gave him an STD or otherwise "had it coming."

What is this? Mothers stop "whomping" on your sons when they misbehave. Stop teaching and tolerating and encouraging violence as a solution to every potential conflict.

Someone gives you an STD? Sue them or at least stop sleeping with them. Dating someone is too jealous of your other girlfriends? Or wants to keep time with other boyfriends? Break up!

For crying out loud. Stop making excuses for this! Too many people are saying "she wasn't hurt"-- well the proof is in the pictures. This is what a beat-down looks like. Sad and stupid. When she goes back to him and forgives him, she will bear all the blame the next time she is beaten or killed, and people will keep making excuses for him.

Who is this feminist writer Egan and why is she peeing on her boyfriend's electric guitar?

TMI. I mean, TMII the penultimate "I" standing for "Irrelevant."

The discourse in this country needs to move away from "who started it?" and "whose fault was it?" to "how do you cool your hot temper and walk away when emotions are out of control."

OS has a recent essay entitled something like "At least I know I didn't jump out of the truck." About a really vicious domestic beating that went on for hours and resulted in a loss of consciousness and hospitalization. The writer/victim finally left this torturer about 2 years after the hospitalization and received applause for finally breaking free. But why wait 2 years after nearly dying at the hands of this angry abusive freak to leave him?

Too many people in our society clearly believe violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Until we adopt "talk it out" or "walk away and cool off" as serious strategies to avoid a physical confrontation, we are gonna go absolutely nowhere as a society on the domestic violence front.