If Husband Files will wifes credit be Affected??

[jrhbull]

I am going to file chapter 13 but wife doesnt want to.Will her credit be affected?? She is not listed on any of my Credit cards or debts.Thanks

[ccfriend]

I filed without my husband and so far his credit has not been affected. Our mortgage (which has never been late and is paid outside the plan) is listed on our statement as being handled by the bankruptcy department. His credit score is fine though! I am one year into a ch 13

[jrhbull]

thanks for the reply my wife is worried about her credit.

[ccfriend]

No problem! Our unsecured debt was in my name so that is why only I filed! We decided to keep him off of the plan because that way one of us would have good credit when all was said and done! My credit score wasn't bad before I filed but I was tired of robbing Peter to pay Paul. I was so stressed all the time about paying everything on time. One day I finally decided that if I was going to make it out of this hole bk was the option. It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. There are some bumps in the road but all in all I think it has been well worth it! I have checked my credit score since I filed and it wasn't as low as I thought it would be!
Best wishes!

[lrprn]

jrhbull, a very important question....do you two live in one of the community property states - Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, or Wisconsin?

I'm asking because if you do live in one of the community property states, then filing a Ch 13 alone can be very difficult. Community property law will typically force both of you to be responsible for paying all debts incurred during your marriage, regardless of who's name is on which of the debts. If you've been married for awhile, then this could be most of your debt that you want to wipe out. You can legally discharge your responsibility to pay your debts incurred during the marriage by filing, but the creditors will just transfer the debt that's been incurred during your marriage to your wife and make her pay it. Of course, if most of your debt was incurred before you were married, then this becomes much less of a barrier.

I'm hoping you do NOT live in a community property state - do you?

[jrhbull]

I live in SW Florida

[lrprn]

I live in SW Florida

Great! Then depending on how much debt cross-over there is with your wife, filing a Ch 13 (or a Ch 7 if you qualify) alone is possible.

Now is the best time to set up 3-4 free initial consultations with experienced bankruptcy lawyers in your area. We have multiple current members from Florida on the forums these days, so you may be able to get a lead for a good lawyer (or the ones to avoid) from one of them via private forum message.

Keep us updated how things are progressing for you as you meet with the different lawyers and keep posting questions as you think of them too. We'll help you sort things out as best we can. Good luck!