I am married but I live separate from my husband. We live in two different towns in Oklahoma. We keep our finances separate and only my car is in both our names. I pay the car loan myself. My husband’s name is considered the primary borrower and I am considered the co-borrower. I was planning on reaffirming my car loan so I could keep my car. I would like to know if I file for bankruptcy do I have to enter my husbands income for the means test? Also if I file bankruptcy will it affect my husbands credit negatively?
After looking around I found this:
‘Married, not filing jointly, with declaration of separate households’: By checking this box, the debtor is literally declaring, under penalty of perjury, that “My spouse and I are legally separated under applicable non-bankruptcy law or my spouse and I are living apart other than for the purpose of evading the requirements of § 707(b)(2)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code.” This means that the debtor should be prepared to testify under oath, and to also document the fact if requested to, that the non-filing spouse’s income is truly not available to contribute toward the debtor’s expenses, and that the debtor is not merely pretending to be separated so as to exclude the spouse’s income from the means test calculation.

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Ok. So my significant other is over her head and doesn’t make enough to pay her debts. Her income is less than half the median income here. A sample means test shows she easily and completely qualifies.

My question is this. She is going to have a hard time coming up with the attorney fees associated with filing (around here it seems to be 800-1500 bucks). I am curious how hard is it to file by yourself or if there is an alternative like a Pro Bono attorney option or discounts for low income persons.
EDIT: Her debt amount is roughly 30k. That is with medical bills WITHOUT college loans. Her monthly income is about 1200 bucks. Her monthly bills are more than that. That does not include food or gas. I am not looking for a moral lecture. She is doing this. I am trying to help her through it. She has exhausted all other options.

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I know a lot of people are filing bankruptcy on credit card debt. I did this myself and got 35,000 dollars worth of credit card debt discharged. That means my credit card companies lost a lot of money on me. I know my credit is ruined but oh well. Unsecured debt should be more difficult to get. It is still easy to file bankruptcy if one meets the means test. Your opinion, please.

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I’m filing chapter 7 bankruptcy and the BK attorney tells me that my questionnaire looks good, and I pass the means test so things should go fairly smooth. A collection firm is presently suing me for credit card debt and I expect they will have a judgment soon. I’ve been told that my bankruptcy will "take care" of the judgment. But what exactly does "take care of" mean in this case? Does the bankruptcy simply relieve a need to pay on the judgment? Or does it also erase the existence of the judgment from my credit record? If not then can I take some follow up action to erase it myself?

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We are married and I am filing 7 myself. Does his stipend count as income on the means test?
Thanks!

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I make more than the median income for my state. How difficult is it to pass the means test to be eligible to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy?

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I’m married but filing for Chapter 7 myself, not joint. My wife will be getting tuition reimbursement in a paycheck coming up. Can this income be deducted in the Means Test? Should we change her direct deposit so that it gets deposited into her personal checking account without my name on it? I don’t want this income to count against me as it will be used for her class tuition. Any help on this would be appreciated.

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Additional Details
When I took the Means Test for Chapter 13 bankruptcy for Astoria, NY, it showed my disposable income as being much higher than it actually is. This is because they didn’t deduct my 401k contributions or my student loan payments. If I file for Chapter 13, will I be expected to stop contributing to my retirement fund and stop making student loan payments for five years in order to repay my debts?

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I am considering filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy. I qualify based on the means test, but I purchased an investment property with a business partner 2 years ago. there is no mortgage on the property and it’s only worth about 40k. How would a trustee normally handle this property since there is another owner who is not filing for bk and is not my spouse? does that make that property exempt?

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