Beware of Filing Bankruptcy Without Your Spouse

Several times a week I get a client who is married but not interested in filing for Bankruptcy along with their spouse. There are many reasons for this. The most common reason being clients often keep their finances completely separate from their spouse.  Here in Texas we are a community property state.  This means any sort of asset would be considered community property as well as any liability that may arise from your spouse’s debt. When an asset is community property both parties involved in the marriage have an interest in that asset. This concept also applies to debts. In other words, if during the duration of a marriage one spouse acquires debt that does not include the name of the other spouse this debt is still considered a community debt, and the non signing spouse can still be held liable for the debt at a later time. In circumstances when only one spouse files and the other spouse decides not to file, there have been multiple occasions where the non-filing spouse has been served with a lawsuit due to a bad debt that was discharged in their spouse's bankruptcy. When filing for Bankruptcy you're aiming for a fresh start and by leaving the back door open the nightmare of harassing creditors may come back to haunt you.