Do married couples need to file jointly?

The answer is no.  A married couple does have the option to file jointly and often it’s the best decision due to the fact that it costs the same amount of money for a married couple to file as an individual but there is no requirement that a married couple files together.  However, even if you are married and have a nonfiling spouse, their income and expenses will be taken into consideration when filing bankruptcy.  The way the court sees it is, income and expenses are calculated as household expenses rather than individual expenses unless, in the very rare situation, households keep completely separate finances which is pretty rare.
Married couples do not need to file jointly however it is often advantageous.  This is something you should discuss with your attorney in order to see whether it’s better to file together or separately.