Guest Post Written by Rome, Georgia Bankruptcy Lawyer, Jeff Kelly
When filing bankruptcy, if your spouse has not signed any contracts with you, your spouse’s credit score will not be affected by your filing.
Before you file bankruptcy, make a list of every single debt you have in the entire world. Next, you should go over the list with your spouse. Ask them if they remember signing a contract for any of the debts listed. Another good idea is to pull the credit reports for both you and your spouse. The next step is to compare the reports to see if you are both listed on the same debts. You should check Experian, Transunion, and Equifax.
If you cosigned on debts together, your filing bankruptcy may lower your spouse’s credit score. I cannot tell you how much it will lower the score. You won’t know until after you file. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, you can take advantage of the cosigner protection provision to keep your cosigner from being sued or garnished. Protecting a person who is cosigned on the debt in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is accomplished by paying the entire amount of the debt at the contract interest rate in the Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan. However, I want to emphasize that this provision does protect the credit score of the cosigner.
While your filing may not affect your spouse, the income of your spouse will have an impact on whether or not you qualify to file bankruptcy. The reason for this is that the income of your spouse is included in the income calculation for the means test.
Cosigned debts can cause a tremendous amount of marital discord. The wife is mad at the husband for using the credit cards. Husband is mad at the because she won’t get a full time job to help pay the bills. Husband is mad at wife because he thinks that she considers her precious credit rating to be more important than the peace of the marriage. Sometimes, the best solution is for both the husband and wife to file bankruptcy together and get a fresh start.
Thanks to Rome Bankruptcy Lawyer, Jeff Kelly for this great post. If you are in Northern Georgia and need help with your financial problems, give Jeff a call at (706) 295-0030 and [email protected]. Also, check out Jeff’s website at www.kellycanhelp.com.
Before even considering bankruptcy, you need to make sure you have everything in order and BOTH of you sit down and have a talk about what is going on.
This article is really very timely. I think everyone should really be aware of the laws that apply to their situation, and that the help of a competent lawyer would really be important these days.