Marriage before or after filing bankruptcy

[wordywrik]

I am a stay at home dad caring for our 2yr old daughter with no income of my own. My fiance earns around $40,000/year. I have well over $150,000 in hospital bills that i will never be able to dream of paying off, which is the reason for my decision to file for bankruptcy. I don't have any other significant debt outside of that, besides a few hundred dollars for a former unpaid electric bill. I'm definitely going to file, but won't be able to afford the attorney costs to do so for a little while. My fiance has impeccable credit and we would like to buy a house within the next few years. I have just a couple of questions

-If we get married, and then i file bankruptcy, will her income be considered in my bankruptcy? (We have a shared bank account currently)
-If we get married, and then i file bankruptcy, will my bankruptcy affect her credit in any way?
-If we get married, and then i file bankruptcy, will she be able to apply for a home loan in only her name or will they automatically look at both of our credit's because she is married?

Ideally, i would like to get married, then after a while file bankruptcy without it impacting my wife's credit. Then i would like to be able to buy a house with my wife applying in only her name, with only her credit and not have them even consider mine since i will be in the middle of a bankruptcy. Is that possible, or is it better for me to completely finish my bankruptcy (7ish years) before getting married? Thanks in advance for any help!

[wordywrik]

Also, only $10K or so of the hospital bills are actually on my credit report. It's been 6 yrs that they have been on there. Does that stuff fall off my credit report after 7yrs? If that is the case, would it be more beneficial to wait till after the 7yrs and then rebuild my credit after that stuff comes off? And you know there is more out there from the same hospital visit. It was a 2 week stay recovering from an accident without insurance. Can the rest of that $150K get added on to my credit report at any time, or is there a limitation for how long they have to add it onto my credit report?

[leonel9]

Seems to me that you may want to consult with an attorney before pursing bankruptcy too much. Things I would consider:

- Why do you want to file bankruptcy?
- What state do you live in?
- In your state, what is the statute of limitations for debt collection? Just because it's not reported now doesn't mean a collection agency can't buy it later and pursue you.
- Do you live in a community property state, such as California? If so, your spouse's assets may be a concern.
- Are you judgement proof? With no income (and limited assets?) Bankruptcy may be unnecessary.

At this point, I'd either meet with an attorney or your local Legal Aid group (who often provides free clinics), in order to get more personal advice.

[wordywrik]

That was my initial plan. Local places I have contacted charge around $300 for the filing process, so I have been dragging my feet till I was closer to being able to afford the filing fee before scheduling a consultation. Thanks for the assistance!

[LadyInTheRed]

If you marry, your wife's income would be included, but if she makes only $40k a year that won't be a problem. That is less than median income for a 1 person household.

You filing BK should not affect her credit whether you file before or after marriage. I am pretty sure she could buy a house without you, but check with a mortgage broker to be sure.

A chap 7 bankruptcy will not last 7 years. It will last a few months.

Your profile says you are in IL, not a community property state.

Find out what the statute of limitations is in your state. It doesn't make sense to file BK if creditors are not trying to collect and the debt is close to the SOL. Don't rely on your credit report to determine how much debt you have. Not all creditors report to the bureaus.