Myth: Married couples will both have to file bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy Myth: Married couples will both have to file.

This simply isn’t true. If you are married, you still have the option of filing singly. If you accrued most of your debts before you got married, and your spouse doesn’t have much debt on their own, their only involvement in your bankruptcy will be supplying information, such as paystubs. Their income will still count towards yours for the purposes of income qualification for a Chapter 7.

If any of your debts were accrued during the marriage and are community property, your spouse still doesn’t need to file with you. Community debts will only be discharged as to your name, but your spouse will be protected from collection on the debt as long as you are married. The creditor on these debts can only pursue your spouse if you get divorced.