Can One Spouse File Bankruptcy?

When filing for bankruptcy, do married couples have to file together or can one spouse file bankruptcy? Find out here.

The bankruptcy rate per 1,000 people was 5.3 percent last year alone. People file bankruptcy for a variety of reasons, but if you’re married, you might have some questions when it comes to filing bankruptcy documents.

Can one spouse file bankruptcy is a question that is sitting at the forefront of your mind right now, and we want to provide you the answers you’re looking for. Continue reading on now for everything that you need to know about can one spouse file bankruptcy without affecting the other?

Filing Individually is Possible

The worst thing that could happen when you file for bankruptcy is affecting your spouse negatively. But, we are pleased to inform you that when you’re filing bankruptcy, you have the option to file either jointly or individually without it negatively affecting your spouse.

If you and your spouse have taken on a considerable amount of debt together, then you might file jointly. But, if you’ve taken on a massive amount of debt, you might consider filing by yourself to not affect your spouse.

The bonus of filing jointly is that you don’t have to pay multiple fees when it comes to finding a legal team to help you through the process.

Debts Don’t All Disappear

One misconception that people have when filing for bankruptcy is that all the debts they have will automatically be forgiven and disappeared once the paperwork has gone through. Unfortunately, this is not true; all the debt you have won’t vanish.

Debts not disappearing pertains to joint debts, which are debts that are shared by both you and your spouse. Therefore, if you both have debt, and only one of you decides to file bankruptcy individually, the debt will still show on your spouse’s credit report.

This means that if there are people still after you to pay back this debt, they can continue to contact your spouse in an attempt to collect the outstanding debt. It may be helpful to check and see what types of debts can be discharged once you’ve filed for bankruptcy. We’ll get into that in a bit.

Income Matters

When you file for bankruptcy, your income will be taken into account, as will the income that’s provided by your spouse. There are two types of bankruptcy that people qualify for.

The first is Chapter 13, and that’s if your income is above a minimum amount that has been set, and the other is Chapter 7, when your income is lower than the set amount. One type of bankruptcy filing requires that at least some of the debt you’ve taken on is paid back.

Therefore, before beginning the process, it’s crucial to have your legal team explain to you which type of bankruptcy filing you will qualify for. This will help you to prepare for the rest of the process as well as figure out a plan in the event that you do have to pay some of the debt back.

What Are the Requirements for Bankruptcy?

When you file for bankruptcy, there are specific requirements that must be met in advance. If you’re filing for Chapter 7, you can’t have any record of having filed for it in the past eight years. If you’ve filed before, but your claims were denied, you’ve got to wait upwards of 181 days before you can move forward with submitting more bankruptcy documents.

Also, before bankruptcy can get filed, you’ve got to complete some type of counseling that’s provided by an agency.

In this counseling, they will talk about what led to you filing for bankruptcy. And provide you with some education and tools that will help to prevent this from reoccurring in the future. If you’re filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you’ve got to make enough to be able to sustain the payment plan.

A plan that has been set for you to pay back a portion of the debts owed.

You’ve also got to provide evidence that you filed your taxes, both state and federal, for the last four years. These are a few of the requirements that must be met before filing Chapter 13 or 7 bankruptcy.

Debts That Can Get Discharged

We know that dealing with bankruptcy can be challenging, especially if you don’t know what debts you can get discharged. If you’ve got any legal judgments that are present against you those can get discharged by way of bankruptcy.

If you’ve got any specific responsibilities that you’re locked into because of a lease, that can get discharged. Other things, like credit card debt or medical bills, also qualify. In some cases, unless you can provide a solid case for why something should get discharged, it will remain on your credit report.

Or if a creditor takes the time to argue why you should still pay or why you owe money for a specific debt, there could be a chance that it’s not discharged.