I am planning to go bankrupt,should I put my wife on the bankruptcy too?

Creditors can only go after your wife on joint accounts or those she has personally guaranteed. There is no legal obligation for both spouses to be in the BR petition.
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.The prior federal administration severely weakened most state’s laws against excessive interest. Unpaid debts now have practically no ceiling on interest which means the final bill can be much more than the original debt.
When you have received a collection notice, lawsuit or even a judgment on an old debt which may have already been paid, or belongs to someone else, or has been discharged in bankruptcy, keep the following in mind. After a creditor writes off your debt, it can then be sold to a collection agency. That agency may sell it again and the next one again. By the time the debt is assigned to a law firm, it can be years pass the statute of limitations, all of the original contracts have been lost and there may be no legal foundation for enforcing the debt. One way of knowing this is that the agency will have no discernible address or they will say they are collecting from a creditor, but the creditor does not know who they are. They will call you at work , and they will not listen to any explanation at all. They will refuse any suggested payment plan and demand a large sum at once. Often these collection agencies and even law firms will file a suit against you, misspell your name, or deliberately send it to the wrong address. You have no notice but they go to court anyway, get a default judgment against you when you do not come to court, and file a judgment lien on your assets such as a home you are trying to sell, or they report you to a credit bureau as a deadbeat. You are allowed to send a 100 word explanation in writing to the three credit bureaus (which they must print) as to why the debt is invalid. Also, many attorneys will take such a case on a contingency basis. A Violations of the fair debt collection act has a fee shifting rule (the creditor pays your attorney). Not only do you get the debt out of your life, you may get a financial award also. Be sure to write to your congress representative to have a stronger federal law to restore a ceiling on interest and to curtail these illegal collection practices.


LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Mr. Sarno is licensed to practice law in NJ and NY. His response here is not legal advice and does not create an attorney/ client relationship. The response is in the form of legal education and is intended to provide general information about the matter in question. Many times the questioner may leave out details which would make the reply unsuitable. Mr. Sarno strongly advises the questioner to confer with an attorney in their own state to acquire more information about this issue.

In California, spouses are jointly and severally liable for debt incurred during the marriage. If you declare bankruptcy, and your spouse (wife) does not, your creditors can seek payment from your spouse if the original debt was incurred while you were married.

In addition, typically both the primary account holder and any signator on the account, will both be responsible for payment.

In sum, based ont he limited information you have presented it does appear that they can seek to collect from your wife.

Disclaimer. Ms. Marsh is an attorney licensed to practice in California. The information posted above is for general information, does not constitute professional legal advice, and does not create an attorney client relationship. Ms. Marsh strongly advises the questioner to consult with an attorney to thoroughly review his or her particular circumstances and for advice tailored to his or her specific circumstances.

There are too many unanswered questions to properly answer - you should speak with a bankruptcy attorney to determine your best course of action.

Your wife's income will be included in the Mean's Test.

However, based on information provided, your wife is not liable for the debts and does not need to file bankruptcy jointly with you.

This is an excellent question! If most of the debts are joint, you should file jointly. Please email me at :thedebtexperts@gmail.com if you have any more questions.

Rich

www.chicagomoneylawyer.com