Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Re: Ex Wife is declaring Bankruptcy and still owes me

If she files a bankruptcy and you wish to challenge her discharging the obligations owed to you (i.e. payment of half of the debts, etc.) you must timely file a complaint pursuant to 11 USC 523(a)(15). You may also have rights and remedies in the family law court reapportioning the property or other settlement, but that is out of my area of expertise.

Re: Ex Wife is declaring Bankruptcy and still owes me

If your ex files bankruptcy and seeks to discharge debts owed to you, you will be notified by the bankruptcy court. Please be aware, however, that unless there is some fraud, etc. respecting the property settlement agreement, there is no way that you can preclude her from discharging the credit card debt. If you believe that there was some intentional misrepresentation, etc., with respect to your property settlement, in order to have the debt held to be non-dischargeable between you and her (not the credit card company, as they could care less what your property settlement agreement is, and will go after you for 100% of the debt, if she does not pay), then you would need to file a non-dischargebility lawsuit within the bankruptcy proceeding, assuming she files. With respect to the taxes, the state will collect it all from whichever of you they can get it from, regardless of your property settlement, and regardless of any bankruptcy.

Re: Ex Wife is declaring Bankruptcy and still owes me

Thanks for your posting, and allow me to add one more opinion to the mix here. As Mr. Markus stated, if you do not file the appropriate objection, you will lose the right to object to the discharge of this debt forever. However, as Ms. Deming stated, there are limited objections one can file opposing a bankruptcy, and if your case does not fall under one of those specific objections, you may not even have grounds to object. The best thing to do is to sit down with a bankruptcy attorney and go over the marital dissolution judgment, AND speak to your family law attorney about it. Bankruptcy and Family Law is a common combination, and there are things you can do to protect yourself. Best of luck.