housewife with no property but planning to file chapter7

[eloisa]

i have more or less 30K in debt and a judgment from the court.
i am a housewife with nothing on my name, no house, no car. my husband has put all cars in his name and he bought the house last nov. 2006, also in his name. im planning to file a petition and my husband wants nothing to do with it. he said that its like committing a crime, whoever commits the crime goes to prison for it. so, since the debts are in my name, i should be the one responsible. he is urging me to file for bankruptcy thinking that he or his business will not be affected at all. we have been married 15 years

i am very confused, what should i do? any input will be appreciated

thank you

[Hollyhomemaker]

You can easily file individually. I am and I will be doing so in late March to early April, and I also know several women who have.

If you have no assets in YOUR name and no joint debts in both your names then his credit will not be affected. But before you do this make darn sure, by pulling all 3 of his credit reports that he is not an authorized user on any of your credit cards; if he is have him removed immediately and have him dispute those off of his credit report.

Also, are you in a community property state? Because if you are then the creditors will come after your dh for this debt. If you are not in a CP state then that is something you don't need to worry about.

I don't understand the crime/prison part of your post and I don't like that your dh makes as a moral equivalent filing BK as committing a crime, and I find it reprehensible that he wants nothing to do with it, well tough you know what. You are a married couple and when one spouse goes through something as serious as this the other spouse should stand by and support them all along the way, and not say I want nothing to do with it. His attitude sucks, but he's your dh.

Make sure you haven't used your c.c's in the last 90 days before you file and I hope your dh will support you during this because this process isn't easy and it isn't fun and it can be extremely stressful. He needs to be there for you and recognize it for the serious life altering action that it is.

[kiddles]

Let me make sure I undestand - all the debt is in your name only, but all the assets are in his name only?

That's not a good siutation for you!

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Hollyhomemaker got it right: the thing to watch out for is whether you are in a community property state. The blending of credit reports is possible, as she mentioned, but mild compared to community property state issues.

I am really sorry that your hubby is taking a hard line on this; it could only help him to be clearing your debts, unless he sees your debts as something that ties you more securely to him. But either way, no, it's no crime, and there are no debtor jails in this country.

Kiddles had a very good point as well. I think that in the end, if you do this bk and at some point go back to work, it would be very wise for you to keep some separate assets of your own. It is never good for an adult to be completely without means, man or woman: it basically places you at the mercy and whim of whoever is feeding you. While that may be a loving and secure situation today, you never know what life will bring. Please consider (post bk) opening up an account of your own somewhere and salting some cash in it, even if only a few dollars at a time.

On the other hand, if you have a spending problem, you have to deal with that first: it's no good salting away savings if you just end up blowing it, and bk is only a temporary measure if your instinct is to spend more than you have. If you are thinking about bk but have a problem with gambling, compulsive spending, etc then know you can't deal with the one without dealing with the other too. (Don't know if that's an issue but I thought I'd throw it in.)

Good luck!!!