Q: I am filing for divorce and my soon to be ex is filing for bankruptcy How will this affect my divorce?

A: In order to answer this question you should consult with an attorney that understands both divorce and bankruptcy law because the answer will depend on many factors such as: 1. Is your husband planning to file before or after the divorce? 2. In whose name are the assets at the time that the bankruptcy is filed? (If assets are transferred from your husband to you in a divorce, then the assets are legally yours and not subject to the power of the bankruptcy trustee to use the assets to pay creditors. The only exception is if an assets is subject to a secured loan. A secured loan can not be removed by a divorce judgment and will follow the asset to whomever is awarded the asset.) 3. In whose name are the debts and are any of the debts secured? (This one is going to require an analysis with an a bankruptcy attorney but roughly speaking, if there is an unsecured debt in your husband's name only, the bankruptcy will release him from that liability and you won't be effected because you were never liable for the debt.) 4. In a post divorce situation a bankruptcy will release the debtor, in this case your husband, from having to pay any debts he was told to pay in the divorce unless the debt is in the nature of support. This is particularly important to analyze when there are debts that you might get stuck paying because it is a debt in your name only, a joint debt that will now be in your name only due to the bankruptcy, or a secured debt on a property like a house or a car that you were awarded in the divorce but your husband promised to continue to help pay for. So the safe way to navigate this is to ask for a division of property and debts that will be the least effected by your husband's bankruptcy and if you are the person with less earning power and more debt burden, you might want to focus on getting spousal support to help you stay afloat as the spousal support is not going to be discharged in bankruptcy. However the spousal support needs to be for some reason other then to strictly help you pay off debts or the bankruptcy court may find that it isn't really spousal support and discharge it.

Often when debts reach the point that one spouse is considering bankruptcy, it may be that the other spouse would benefit from also filing bankruptcy jointly with their spouse prior to the divorce. This is because the bankruptcy will be cheaper and by filing together your will have more exemptions which can shelter more property. After the bankruptcy is over, you and your spouse will have an easier time figuring out a fair division of assets, if you need spousal support your spouse will have more money available to pay the support since he has been relieved of his debt, and you can live better on your income and whatever support you get because you no longer have debt dragging you down. Whether a join bankruptcy is a good idea is something you should discuss with your own privately retained bankruptcy attorney. Both you and your husband need to have your own bankruptcy attorneys so you are sure you are getting advice that is best for you alone. Then your bankruptcy attorney can work with your husband's bankruptcy attorney on the joint petition if that is the best solution.

Bankruptcy isn't a horrible shameful affair. My clients have never reported to me that they regretted filing. Many worry about their credit score being negatively impacted, but the truth is that having a lot of debt you can't easily pay has already damaged your credit score. Removing the debt from your life is the first step to repairing your credit score. 10 years post filing your bankruptcy can no longer be reported on credit reports. But your credit will start to restore itself long before the 10 year period has past, due to you demonstrating consistently that you can use credit wisely. That may mean some small credit lines with high interest rates at first, but it all gets better.