You could both file bankruptcy and discharge debts however any debts to ex spouses arising out of divorced are not dischargeable.

Answer Applies to: Georgia
Replied: 11/9/2011

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You can file a bankruptcy without your spouse while your divorce is pending. You would file your bankruptcy petition as married with declaration of separate households. If the accounts are only in his name and he used his social security and credit to obtain the account, then you are not liable for that account. If you are on the account as only an authorized user, you are not liable for the account. You are only liable if you used your social security number and credit in order to obtain the credit line and are on the account as either yourself or joint. If you have debt together, you may want to consider filing together before you get divorced. It will save you on the filing fee and on attorney fees (assuming you hire an attorney). If you file a bankruptcy by yourself and obtain your discharge, it will release your legal obligation to pay on those debts but his obligation to pay on them will remain.

Answer Applies to: Florida
Replied: 11/7/2011

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If the debt are joint, then you are definitely liable. During the divorce, you can negotiate a settlement where he is responsible for paying off the debt, but you will continue to remain liable, unless your creditors agree to remove your name from the account. You can choose to file a joint petition for bankruptcy or you can file alone. If you file together and qualify for a chapter 7, both of you can wipe out your joint and individual debt. If you file alone and qualify for a chapter 7, your debt will be wiped out against you but he will continue to remain liable for the joint debt.

Answer Applies to: Georgia
Replied: 11/6/2011

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Any joint debt can be collected by the creditors from either of the parties no matter what the divorce says. You can then have a claim against your ex after they collect from you. It is often better to file a joint bankruptcy before the divorce is final. That way both parties are discharged and there is less to work out in the divorce.

Answer Applies to: Colorado
Replied: 11/3/2011

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Yes, you can file bankruptcy while getting a divorce. Whether or not you should file for bankruptcy during the divorce will depend upon your individual facts and it is possible that you could be held partially liable for his debts. I recommend that you contact a bankruptcy attorney and look at your options as the correct answer to your questions need to be based on your individual facts.

Answer Applies to: Nevada
Replied: 11/3/2011

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If you (and that includes both or either of you) were thinking of filing bankruptcy, doing it before you're divorced is almost always the better way to go. You will avoid lots of potential issues that would arise by doing the divorce and then the bankruptcy later. Better scenario is for both of you to file now (if he wants to), and then you're both debt free. No issues as to who gets assigned what debt in the divorce, because the debts are discharged. If spouse wants to join you, makes sense - if not, you can go by yourself.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 11/3/2011

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You are only liable for the debt that you have co signed for, but often even as an authorized user on a credit card, the creditor may have attached the debt to your name and social security as well. You may want to pull your credit report and see what debt is in your name before you decide if you want to file bankruptcy. If you have no assets, then the divorce will have no effect on your bankruptcy.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 11/3/2011

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If you file before divorce you need to file jointly as a couple, otherwise the person who does not file will remain liable for the joint debts. If you file after the divorce, you need to settle who is responsible for what debt in the divorce settlement, just like you would do with your assets.

Answer Applies to: Florida
Replied: 11/3/2011

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What I usually advise when parties are going through a divorce or are comtemplating a divorce is to file your bankruptcy together. What can happen when one spouse discharges all their debts in bankruptcy and the other spouse doesn't, is when you finally get to the point in your divorce where you must divide debts, the court could make you pay some part of your spouse's debts because you no longer have any debt. Also, you are able to file together as long as you are not legally divorced. This will save a lot of time and money. If you still want to file separately prior to a final divorce you must secure a "waiver of Exemption form" signed by your spouse. This is very important because if your sposue refuses to sign the waiver it could result in your losing property to the court.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 11/3/2011

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It is fairly common to see bankruptcies filed in conjunction with divorces. If you are a co-debtor on any of your husband's debts and he files for bankruptcy, you will be held solely responsible. You should retain a bankruptcy attorney to work with your divorce attorney for the purpose of limiting or eliminating your liability on these debts.

Answer Applies to: Massachusetts
Replied: 11/3/2011

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Yes. You can file for bankruptcy even while you are in the process of getting a divorce. You must carefully work with both your divorce and bankruptcy attorney so that you do not end up owing the debts. The bankruptcy will wipe out you personal liability, but depending on how the divorce decree is written, you could still have to pay these debts as support obligations.

Answer Applies to: Virginia
Replied: 11/3/2011

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You will only be liable for the debts that you co-signed for ..... if he signed SOLELY for the responsibility of these debts, then you will NOT be held responsible. Certain debts, like tax debt, can be joint and several liability (meaning you would be liable), depending on the nature of the debt. Its best to consult with a bankruptcy lawyer regarding those debts and be certain you won't be liable.

Answer Applies to: South Carolina
Replied: 11/3/2011

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I don't have any idea what you may or may not get stuck paying for in your divorce. You do have the right to file a bankruptcy while the divorce is still in process. The filing of the bankruptcy will halt all of the divorce proceedings.

Answer Applies to: Texas
Replied: 11/3/2011

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You can, but most trustees will want to see the divorce judgment before they close the case to see if you got any assets in the divorce. Your divorce attorneys will have to work out who pays what and who gets what from the bank accounts. Generally I tell my clients to wait until the divorce is done, if possible, so that we know exactly what we are dealing with. Good luck!

Answer Applies to: Michigan
Replied: 11/3/2011

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Yes, you can file bankruptcy while getting a divorce. You will be liable for any debts that are in your name or co-signed with your husband. If you both file bankruptcy however, then all of the debt will be discharged.

Answer Applies to: Colorado
Replied: 11/2/2011

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If you both file bankruptcy then you will not be responsible for discharged debt in your name or in his. If only you file for bankruptcy, the divorce court may still make you responsible for some of the debt in your husband's name. Such an obligation may be discharged in a Chapter 13, but not in a Chapter 7. For that reason, it is best if either you both file or you wait until after the divorce

Answer Applies to: Colorado
Replied: 11/2/2011

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Persons who are divorcing can file a joint bankruptcy or either can file their own bankruptcy. A divorce court decree on debts will survive a bankruptcy. Consult with an attorney who is familiar with bankruptcy and divorce and how they interact.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 11/2/2011

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You can file bankruptcy while going through divorce. To give you proper advice I would need to know more about your situation.

Answer Applies to: Minnesota
Replied: 11/2/2011

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You are not usually liable for your husband's debts unless you signed for him and if you went through bankruptcy while still married you could do it with one petition and one filing fee.

Answer Applies to: Minnesota
Replied: 11/2/2011

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Debts acquired during marriage for the benefit of the marital community are community debts. You may be liable for your 1/2 community interest in those debts even after divorce. You can file bankruptcy while in the process of getting divorced, but until you are actually legally divorced, you will be treated by the bankruptcy court as married for purposes of household income, assets, etc.. You should consult an attorney to see if it is more beneficial to file for bankruptcy now, either jointly or with a spousal waiver, or to wait until the divorce is complete.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 11/2/2011

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File bankruptcy together, that will make the divorce less messy.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 11/2/2011

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The mixture of a bankruptcy and divorce is a highly complex issue where you need a lawyer for both cases. A mistake in which comes first, or how you coordinate the two cases, can be very costly. People often do both together or close in time. You need a lawyer to analyze what to do when.

Answer Applies to: Georgia
Replied: 11/2/2011

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If you are on any of the credit cards or you are an authorized user on any of the credit cards you may be liable for the debts. You are able to file for bankruptcy together still before the divorce is final. Should you choose not to file while you are still married, you should pay particular attention to your judgment of divorce to make sure there are no limitations in regards to your ability to file for bankruptcy on marital debt.

Answer Applies to: Michigan
Replied: 11/2/2011

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You can file bankruptcy while in divorce and usually it relieves the pressure of fighting over who is going to keep the debt.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 11/2/2011

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Yes, you can file bankruptcy while you're in the process of divorce. If you're still legally married, you can file as an individual, but keep in mind that your soon to be ex spouse's information will come into your bankruptcy case. If you're divorced, you cannot file a joint petition with your ex husband. It's usually best to do one thing at a time, unless you're faced with a wage garnishment or bank levy after a judgment has been entered against you in a court of law. If you file a joint petition during marriage, it's best to put off the divorce until after you receive your discharge Order because if your divorce becomes final during your bankruptcy case then one of you will be required to be dismissed from the case. Your divorce decree will split up the assets and liabilities, but it won't stop the debt collectors from coming after you for your personal liabilities even if the debt was in your ex husband's name alone.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 11/2/2011

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Yes, but you should be careful. You will be liable for any debt you signed for unless you file your bankruptcy.

Answer Applies to: Michigan
Replied: 11/2/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.