Legal Question in Bankruptcy in New York

Re: Question regarding you credit

Your basic question is, as I understand it, what is the worst that can happen if you stop paying all the bills that are in your husband's name.

If you fail to pay your bills, the creditors will sue and will very likely obtain a money judgment against the person or persons of record on the account. Money judgments give the creditor the right to "execute" the judgment, which means garnishment (employer withholding for payment to the creditor by court order and without prior notice to the debtor) of a good-sized chunk of salary, pension, SSI, and other income until that creditor's debt is paid. Each creditor has the right to garnish income up to a certain percent, and the sum total has little, if any, regard to your total take-home food-and-shelter money.

Money judgments can be vacated (made to go away) in several ways, the most common of which are:

1. Pay off the debt underlying the judgment; or

2. Get the underlying debt discharged and, ideally, the judgment vacated in a bankruptcy action. If the judgment isn't vacated in the bankruptcy (and many of them are not), it can be vacated in a state action one year or more after you receive a discharge in the bankruptcy action.

It's WAY easier to simply get the debt discharged in bankruptcy before the debt has gone to judgment than it is to get rid of a money judgment in bankruptcy; if you plan to go the non-payment route, you should contact an attorney who practices bankruptcy law in your geographical area sooner rather than later (geography matters with bankruptcy). You can get a referral either from your local county bar association or from the NYS Bar Association (www.nysba.org).

Do NOT try to navigate the now-perilous waters of bankruptcy under the new law that came into effect in 2005 without the guidance of an attorney!!!!!!!!!! It's far too easy to shoot yourself in the foot that way and lose your right to any relief at all.

Good luck.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS POSTING DOES NOT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.