Detroit Bankruptcy Lawyers: Does My Spouse Have To File Bankruptcy With Me?
The age old question that gets put to any bankruptcy attorney. The reasons for this question are endless, but most of the time it is because one spouse does not want the other spouse to know they are filing bankruptcy, or they want to protect the other spouses credit rating. Whatever you reason for this question, the short answer is no, your spouse does not have to file bankruptcy if you are. There is nothing in the bankruptcy code that requires married couples to file jointly. Of course it may be a really bad idea to leave your spouse out.
When you receive your discharge from the bankruptcy court, your liability on the debt is gone and your creditors cannot collect from you. But if you spouse co-signed on the debt, guess what? The creditors will be coming after your spouse. They can pursue a judgment against your spouse, they can garnish your spouse's wages, they can call and harass your spouse. So what did you gain by not including your spouse? Nothing. Your spouse's liability on the debt will remain.
The same goes for a mortgage that you want to walk away from in bankruptcy. If your spouse signed for the mortgage, your liability is discharged, but your spouse's liability remains. The same goes for a car loan, bank loan, and for most other loans.
Whether you file a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13, and even though your spouse is not filing, you will have to disclose your household income and expenses in your bankruptcy petition. That means you will have to disclose the income your spouse earns and the expenses your spouse pays. That is the way the law is written. But your spouse will not be listed on the petition and their name will not be disclosed on the petition. And your spouse will not have to attend the 341 meeting.
So what does this all mean? Always check to see if your spouse has co-signed on those credit cards, mortgages, car loans, or any other loan you have. If they have, it is a good idea to file bankruptcy jointly, so as to discharge the liability your spouse will face on these loans.
Here is another point: Even if your spouse did not co-sign on any loans and did not open the credit card account jointly with you, it is still a good idea to file jointly. Why? Because if your spouse has a significant amount of debt and is struggling to keep up with the payments, it will cost you less money to file jointly. You will only have to pay one set of filing fees, one set of attorney fees (with me, it costs the same to file jointly as it does a single person), and one set of credit counseling/debtor education course fee (to be discussed in a future blog). If you file today, and your spouse decides to file a month later, then it will cost you double what it would have cost you to file jointly. That is something to think about.
There are so many more reasons why it would be better to file jointly that I could go on forever. If you have a situation that was not covered here, call your Detroit Bankruptcy Lawyers at (586) 439-4297, Extension 0, and set up your free consultation and talk to me about your situation. As always, if bankruptcy is not an option for you and/or your spouse, I will be the first to tell you.
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Students from both private and public universities all over the country may also provide low cost or free advice. The sessions will only achieve directing clients to the right legal path in filing the right papers. Note that with the new bankruptcy laws taking into effect making the bankruptcy filing process more difficult than usual, an experienced bankruptcy attorney will be worth your money.
Many people who enter the bankruptcy process worry about the fate of their credit. This is actually unnecessary as the bulk of credit damage happens before the bankruptcy process is even initiated. While no one wants the added hassle of rebuilding their credit after resolving debt troubles, doing so can put you leaps ahead of others in the credit game.
Americans are now filing Chapter 7 or 13 Bankruptcy to get their debts under control. Bankruptcy in itself is designed for debt elimination. Chapter 7 bankruptcy functions to cancel out unsecured debt such as utility or medical bills, credit card, etc. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy on the other hand is designed to give individuals more time in repaying all their debts.
Filing for bankruptcy is good news whenever you are struggling with your credit card debt, mortgage or medical bills. Bankruptcy laws help families and individuals in their debt struggles. You have two options on how to deal with your debt problems, Chapter 7 (debt elimination) and Chapter 13 (reorganization). Always remember that you can regain credit again after successfully filing your bankruptcy.
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Your Detroit Bankruptcy Lawyer always gets asked if a whole life insurance policy can be protected in bankruptcy. A whole life insurance policy is a life insurance policy that has a cash value to it. It is usually more expensive than a normal term life insurance policy, but many people use a whole life insurance policy as a retirement tool.
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Ever since Congress pass the mis-named Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) in 2005, every consumer filer for bankruptcy has to take a Credit Counseling course within 180 days before filing their case and every filer desiring a discharge of their debts must take a debtor education course after their case is filed and before they receive their discharge.
This is a common question asked of us all the time. The answer is simple: There is no minimum amount you need to file bankruptcy. Theoretically, if you have only $1.00 in debt, you can file. Of course, you would never do this on only $1.00 in debt.
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