Payday Loans and Fast Cash Guide | Do I Have to Include My Spouse in My Bankruptcy Filing?

Do I Have to Include My Spouse in My Bankruptcy Filing?

If you have chosen to file for a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy, you may wonder if you are required to include your spouse in the bankruptcy filing. Generally, it is not required—however it is often advantageous for both spouses to file. This depends upon how you keep your finances and assets as well as the community property laws in your specific state or commonwealth. The following factors may affect whether bankruptcy will help your spouse:

Prenuptial Agreements

Did you sign a prenuptial agreement? A premarital or prenuptial agreement can help your Minneapolis bankruptcy attorney and the court establish which property was separate at the time of marriage. If you can prove that the property remained separate during the marriage, such assets may be exempt from your bankruptcy filing.

What Information Must I Disclose?

When you petition for bankruptcy, you should provide all information about assets held by both you and your spouse to your Minneapolis bankruptcy lawyer—even if your spouse is not filing. While your spouse won’t be filing, this full disclosure protects your spouse from further investigation. You should provide copies of separate bank account records, joint bank accounts, transfers between you and your spouse and explanations for any recent transfers.

Is My Spouse Responsible for My Debt and Bankruptcy?

It’s true that your spouse’s credit may be affected by your bankruptcy. However, your spouse is not legally responsible for debt in your name only unless he or she specifically signed agreements. If your spouse did not sign agreements or the creditor cannot produce binding contracts including your spouse’s signature, he or she is not responsible for the debts in question.

Community Property (Equitable Distribution) and Bankruptcy

If you and your spouse co-own assets, you may have community property. This is especially applicable in nine states that preclude marital joint ownership of most property owned by either individual party. In these states, your creditor can come after your spouse—but only if your spouse has legally signed a document accepting responsibility for the debt. In other words, if you signed up for phone service but the phone comes to both you and your spouse, you are the only one legally responsible for paying for the service as you are the only one that signed the contract. If your spouse has co-signed on all of these items, consult your Minneapolis bankruptcy law expert—it may be best if both of you file for joint bankruptcy.

Lastly, property and debt are both affected when one spouse files and the other does not. Even when the property is jointly owned, it is fully considered in bankruptcy proceedings. Jointly-owned property and assets are at risk of loss (especially if you jointly own more than one property). The filing spouse may assume full responsibility for credit cards, but the creditor may turn to the spouse for repayment. In Chapter 13 bankruptcies, the filing spouse is committed to a repayment plan and the creditor cannot approach the spouse legally.

Related posts:

  1. Filing for Bankruptcy as a Last Resort
  2. Bankruptcy Service – The Various Sources Of Help During Bankruptcy
  3. Effective Ways to Stop Credit Card Bankruptcy
  4. Can Debt be erased through a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Claim?
  5. What is the average cost of bankruptcy?
  6. Claim Bankruptcy Twice – What You Should Know
  7. The Advantages of Filling for Bankruptcy
  8. Facts About Bankruptcy Attorney Fees
  9. What You Need to Know about After Bankruptcy Credit Repair!
  10. Bankruptcy Financial Options

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