Welcome to the aHernandezLaw.Com legal blog. We are a Miami bankruptcy law firm who offer debt relief solutions to people in financial difficulties via an array of legal instruments such as bankruptcy relief, loan deification and foreclosure defense under the Bankruptcy Code. One of the most common cases we see at our firm involves stay home parents and or a small business owner whose business is failing and their partner has a steady job or income!
When considering bankruptcy, married couples may choose to file alone or together. But, it is sometimes difficult to agree to the decision of filing for bankruptcy with your spouse. That’s why it’s important to know that even if you are married, you do not have to file bankruptcy with your spouse. For instance, if one spouse has good credit and needs it for work related purposes, it may not be advisable to file jointly unless the credit worthy spouse has high credit card debt. While meeting with your bankruptcy attorney in Miami, you should provide complete and accurate information on all of your assets and debts to see if the decision to file alone will be in your best interest.
Regardless of what you choose to do, as a family unit, all income and expenses are calculated together. When you file without your spouse, you should know that their income is still required to be provided to the court and calculated into your means test. Another detail that is included in a bankruptcy filing is your spouse’s expenses, such as their car payment or insurance payments. This will help give the court a clear picture of your total finances. They may be asked to provide their paystubs as proof of income as well. They will not be involved in your case just because they provided this information to the court. It is therefore extremely important that your spouse cooperates with you in providing their income and expense information in order to fulfill the information requirements sought and required by the bankruptcy court.
There may be some issues when it comes to joint credit cards. Even if your spouse does not file, any credit card that is in both of your names will be included in the active bankruptcy filing. A creditor will normally close these cards, if they haven’t done so already, when the case is filed. They will also report that the account is in bankruptcy to the credit bureaus. For the non-filing spouse, it may also reflect the same information on their credit report. If that is the case, they
should call the credit bureaus and request to remove the incorrect information.
If you are interested in a free bankruptcy consultation to discuss filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy and regaining some peace back in your life, contact Attorney Alberto Hernandez at (305) 820-0334 to schedule your free consultation at one of our offices conveniently located in Miami Lakes or Pembroke Pines.
