Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Re: bankrupcy

When you file for bankruptcy, you are submitting to the court for administration all of your assets and liabilities, which includes any interest you may have in your husband's property. Further, when Congress enacted the BAPCPA in 2005 (a set of laws aimed at curbing bankruptcy abuse), they implemented a means-testing to determine who goes into chapter 7 or 13. As a part of that test, you must disclose to the court all income available to you to repay your debts. Your husband's income, to the degree available to pay household obligations and your debt, must be included. Why? Because legally, all income available to your household to repay your debts should be disclosed and considered before you can discharge what you owe. When you got married, he essentially bought into your debts, even though he may not be legally liable directly to the creditors. The short answer is "because its the law."

You need to review your information carefully with an attorney, as there are means of legitimately reducing the amount of your husband's income as disclosed on the means-testing form, but it must be disclosed and must be supportable. A married person filing individually is a lot more work than a standard bankruptcy, and I strongly suggest that you not attempt to do this without representation. Doing so will seriously jeopardize your ability to obtain a discharge.

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