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Samantha Terrill: Can I file a bankruptcy without my spouse?
Evan Bornmann: You can do that. There are different considerations that go into that.
For example, if all the debts are your debts only and you had them before you were married, sometimes it's a better idea to file on your own.
If you have community debts, you can still file on your own, and actually your spouse, to an extent,
would benefit from your discharge because it's a community property stating that's something that you
would want to discuss in detail with your attorney before you decide to file either together or separately.
One thing to remember, though, is if you're married, both of your incomes and all of your assets have to be included in the paperwork.
You have to show everything there and you have to make sure that the court can see all your community and
separate properties just in case there's something that needs to be liquidated by the trustee or
in case the two of you combined have too much income to qualify for a Chapter 7.
So, you can't get around the qualification standards by filing separately if your spouse makes too much money on their own.
So, it's possible, but its only really advised under limited circumstances.