Divorcing to Qualify for Chp 7

[ansett]

Im going to get blasted for asking this but has anyone divorced so they could take care of their debt and protect the spouse? With my wifes salary we over the limit for chp7. I have huge CC debts(230k)trying to save a business and its all under my name not my wifes.All the debt is under my name not the business. How can the trustee prove or find out that your divorce is a sham? I'm not promoting breaking the law but just trying to see what all my avenues are to protect the family for my stupidity.

[helpless]

Didn't think about it for bankruptcy purposes, but when I see what tuition is going to be for my son to go to college next year, I will admit I thought if I was divorced and I claimed him that he would get a heck of lot more financial aid then what he is ever going to see with me married. Now, I would never go that route, but the thought did enter my mind. College is so expensive and can't get much FASFA help at all and we don't make that much money. It is mind boggling. Good luck.

[phoenyx]

Im going to get blasted for asking this but has anyone divorced so they could take care of their debt and protect the spouse? With my wifes salary we over the limit for chp7. I have huge CC debts(230k)trying to save a business and its all under my name not my wifes.All the debt is under my name not the business. How can the trustee prove or find out that your divorce is a sham? I'm not promoting breaking the law but just trying to see what all my avenues are to protect the family for my stupidity.

I'm not an attorney. My line of thinking might be wrong on this, please someone correct me if I am. Definately seek legal council to verify/deny my line of thinking. Many local bankruptcy attorneys would provide free initial consultations to you.

I definatley don't know your entire situation, but I have to raise a lot of caution flags to you. I couldn't see this being pulled off as just a divorce on paper. You would probably have to live seperately until the process was over, then I'm not sure how long you would have to wait if you could re-marry. As a child of a divorce, definatley realize that a financial move like this could have worse consequences on your children than being forced to file a Chapter 13. (I only assume you have children because you said family in your post.) However, if a divorce seems right on its own, nothing to do with the bankruptcy planning, than this is a different matter all together.

If all of the debt is in your name and not your wife's, you will likely be able to file Chapter 7 single -- not jointly. This would discharge debt in your name only, that she had nothing to do with.

If you file Chapter 7 single, I believe you have to list your wife's income and assets, but I am not sure that her income goes into your means test calculations. Again, I might be wrong here. I strongly recommend seeking legal council. This is a very important issue.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Ansett, you're not the first person who has asked that question here, and I don't think it's unreasonable to ask it. But I agree with Phoenyx, you're going to need an atty's help on this one. And if you're wise, you won't give the atty any indication that you are divorcing for the sole reason of declaring bk: that puts him in a bad position, ethically. Good luck!!!

[ansett]

Even if I file single I would still have to do chp13. What I would do is rent a room out from a friend but still live at home being very cautious of course.My wife is the bread winner. Let my wife keep everything and of course I would be responsible for my debts. I would use the payments from my CC to pay rent. I did ask my attorney this as a "what if I got divorced" he said for this to work everything has to be done perfectly with no mistakes. I was just curious if anyone has done this and if so did it work. These debts are old but I'm not even making a dent. My attorney said I have paid back 2-3 times more than what I borrowed on most of my cards over the years and the interest rates keep going up even though Ive never been late. At this point I don't feel bad and to hell with CC companies. It would have been better to get a loan from Tony Soprano.