Should Both Spouses Join in Bankruptcy Filing?

There are many times throughout a lifetime when debts may become overwhelming and individuals may ask themselves should I file bankruptcy? If the answer to that question is a "yes," a very common follow up question, for couples who are married, is: Do married couples have to file bankruptcy together? The short answer to the aforementioned question is simply, no. Married couples do not have to file for bankruptcy together. Debtors will have the option to file for bankruptcy either singly or jointly with their spouse. The filing fee for filing singly or jointly is exactly the same. Any individual who is contemplating filing a bankruptcy petition and is deliberating about whether to file as a single person or a married couple should consult an attorney for advice on how that decision will impact the lives of the parties involved. For instance, if a debtor decides to file jointly with his or her spouse there will be joint meetings and hearings. Perhaps the most important factor when filing jointly is that all of the spouses' marital property will be subject to the bankruptcy proceedings. This may have two very different affects on the process. First, if the couple is filing under Chapter 7, there is a risk that anything that is part of the marital property is at risk of liquidation. Conversely, with a larger corpus of property at stake, there is less of a chance that particular variables will be seized to satisfy debts because the bankruptcy trustee has more property to choose from. In addition, if a couple files jointly, all of the marital debt may be discharged - meaning each spouse's debt and any joint debts will be forgiven. In this situation, both spouse's credit will be negatively impacted, but both will also enjoy the benefit of getting a new start. On the other hand, if the debtor decides to file as a single person, maybe because only she is battling personal debt issues, her spouse's property and credit will be protected from the proceedings and will not be at risk of liquidation or seizure. Further, all of the property that the spouse had acquired before the marriage will be shielded from the entire bankruptcy process. In this case, only the spouse who has filed for bankruptcy will suffer the negative credit impact that results from filing for bankruptcy. It should be noted, that even if a spouse files singly, her spouse will still be liable for any joint debt that was accumulated during the marriage. This means that the trustee can still seek repayment for debts from the non-filing spouse. In sum, if you are facing severe financial hardship and feel that bankruptcy may provide you with the relief from your consumer debt issues that you so desperately need, it is imperative that you seek out the advice of experienced legal counsel to advise you on these issues. For more information on if you should file for bankruptcy, the impact that bankruptcy has on your credit, credit card debt, or any other consumer debt issues visit TheNJBankruptcyAttorney.com. This blog is for informational purposes only and not intended to replace the advice of an attorney.

Bankruptcy and Child Support Enforcement

You may become concerned about your child support payments if you learn that your ex-spouse is filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy after your divorce, especially if you are the custodial parent. If this is the case, there is no reason to worry as the law protects a child's right to his or her child support payments which are not dischargeable in a bankruptcy proceeding. With regard to the vast majority of debts, filing for bankruptcy will provide a debtor with instant relief in the form of the automatic stay. The automatic stay prevents creditors from continuing to contact a debtor regarding outstanding debts as soon as the bankruptcy petition is filed with the appropriate court. Although, there are exceptions to the automatic stay to prevent ex-spouses from avoiding their obligations under their divorce judgment. The automatic stay does not relieve a debtor from their legal obligations to pay child support or alimony. According to the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. Section 507, child support and alimony payments are given a higher priority compared to other debts and therefore, a non-custodial parent is not allowed to get out of paying his or her child support simply by filing for bankruptcy. In addition, an ex-spouse filing for bankruptcy may actually be beneficial to the custodial parent. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, a debtor must disclosure all of his or her financial information such as debts, income, and assets to the court. Therefore, he or she will be unable to conceal any income or assets that they may be receiving which can factor into potential modifications of alimony or child support amounts. If you are having trouble dealing with your consumer debt issues and you need information regarding how filing for bankruptcy may affect your other legal obligations such as spousal support or child support it is imperative that you seek the advice of experienced legal counsel to advise you on these issues. For more information on Chapter 13 bankruptcy, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, how bankruptcy will affect your credit, foreclosure or any other consumer debt issues visit TheNJBankruptcyAttorney.com. This blog is for informational purposes only and not intended to replace the advice of an attorney.

Rebuilding Your Credit After Bankruptcy

If you have recently filed for bankruptcy or are considering filing for bankruptcy you may be concerned about the impact of bankruptcy on your credit and how you can immediately begin to rebuild your credit once your file for bankruptcy. After filing for bankruptcy, an individual's initial instinct will most likely be that he or she will never use a credit card again. Especially, if it was credit card debt that got them in the precarious financial situation that lead to the bankruptcy. Although, with the status of the U.S. economy as it is people may quickly realize that buying items on credit is a near necessity. People in this country assume that having a high credit score is the primary indicator of financial stability, but this is an incorrect assumption. An individual could boast a high credit score but harbor a huge sum of debts and may be in a constant struggle to keep up with payments. This could be a financial disaster waiting to happen. Once a bankruptcy debtor has been discharged of his or her debt at the conclusion of the proceedings they must get a credit report from all three of the most common credit bureaus - Equifax, TransUnion, and Esperion. These reports must indicate that all of the debtor's debt has been successfully discharged. For some, this could take a few weeks or months to occur. If over time, all three reports do not reflect the discharge, the debtor must take steps to ensure that the bureaus amend their reports to reflect the full discharge. After all of the reports reflect the complete discharge of debt, the best way a debtor can begin to rebuild credit is to seek to obtain a secured credit card from a bank. A secured credit card is a credit card issued by a bank which is connected with a money deposit. The credit limit on the card is the amount of money that remains in the debtor's bank account, therefore the debtor cannot charge more money than he or she maintains in the account. The debtor will improve his credit over time as he continues to make timely payments on charges made from his secured credit card. Over time, once the debtor's credit score reaches a certain number he can apply for additional credit cards upon which he can make timely payments to further strengthen his credit score. If you are having trouble dealing with your consumer debt issues and you need to know how filing for bankruptcy will impact your credit and how, once bankruptcy is filed, you can begin to rebuild your credit it is imperative that you seek the advice of experienced legal counsel to advise you on these issues. For more information regarding the impact of bankruptcy on your credit, Chapter 13 bankruptcy, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, foreclosure or any other consumer debt issues visit TheNJBankruptcyAttorney.com. This blog is for informational purposes only and not intended to replace the advice of an attorney