What if my wife files....

[Needing Help]

Our debt is huge! Most in my name. I have a 6 figure income, she is a stay at home mom. We live in a community property state.

If she files a chapter 7, will that eliminate the debt? Has anybody had success at this before?

[butterflywings]

If most of the debt is in your name then why are you so quick to throw her under the bus? Is the fact that she is a stay at home mom mean that somehow her credit is less worthy than your's?

[Needing Help]

Not at all... just wondering if there is a way we might be able to work together to make a crappy situation a little better. Do you know the answers to the original post?

[magyar123]

Our debt is huge! Most in my name. I have a 6 figure income, she is a stay at home mom. We live in a community property state.

If she files a chapter 7, will that eliminate the debt? Has anybody had success at this before?

Chapter 7??? Are you kidding??? No way she will qualify for a 7. As a family unit your total household income is waaaaaaaaaayyyyyy over the median household income.

[JollyGG]

Since most of the debt is joint or in your name and you live in a community property state your best bet would be to file a joint bankruptcy. Now if she has her own debts and you have your own debt you may be able to get away with her filing a chapter 7 and you filing a chapter 13 but you would need to consult with several attorneys to see if that is feasable.

It looks to me from your other post like you are trying to preserve one of your credit ratings for the future. Realistically bk is a hit to your credit. However, with two years of on time payments and some work cleaning up your credit report you can get decent rates on just about anything and the bk really won't matter that much. So it might just be best to bite the bullet and file.

I looked at it this way. I already own my home what do I need that great credit for. I was flooded with cc offers as soon as my bk was discharged and for the time being a modest limit is better anyway since cc debt is what got me here in the first place. I do need to buy a car, but we bought a cheep used car and are making that last as long as possible. With a decent down payment and a little bit of time since my bk I should even qualify for an okay car loan. Besides I checked my FICO right after discharge and it was already in the mid 600's.

[woeisme]

They look at combined income when filing, so she would probably have to file Ch 13, not 7. Sorry! I was planning on filing 13 separately from my husband since most of our debt was in my name (about 70K in my name, 15K in his) but was hearing so many horror stories of creditors going after the spouse even if they weren't listed on the debt that we decided to just bite the bullet and do a joint 13.

[my4devils]

I am a stay at home mom and my husband makes the bucks, however, the debt is in both of our names. We have 4 kids so we just fall under the median income in our state. We are going to file Chap 7 jointly and then work like crazy after discharge to get his credit score up quick. Mine can be put on the back burner for awhile- dont really need it anyway. We need his so he can buy a house in 2 years. Dont know how it would apply to a 13 but it seems either way you are going to have to get dirty.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

If you live in a community property state, that makes all the difference as well. In a non-community property state, you *maybe* could get away with only one of you filing, but in a community property state it's pretty much all over from the get go, since half of everything acquired during the marriage is hers, not only debts but your current income. Ditto to the folks who said go ahead and jointly file... I don't see how you can get around it. And check with an atty before you decide it's not feasible: if you have no assets to sell or surrender, and that fat paycheck is entirely devoted to expenses, you may have a chance for a Ch7, but you'll need an atty's help to do it. Good luck!!!