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My spouse's income

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H

hchhon

Guest
What is the name of your state? MA

Hi. Do I have to include my spouse's income when filing for chapter 7 even we are living separately?

Thanks!
 


Ladynred

Senior Member
No. If the 'household' income consists of YOUR income only, and he's not contributing any income, then you shouldn't have to list it.
 
H

hchhon

Guest
Ladynred said:
No. If the 'household' income consists of YOUR income only, and he's not contributing any income, then you shouldn't have to list it.
OK. Thanks. When you file do you have to state that you are married or not? I don't want to state that I am married eventhough I am. I don't want my spouse to know that I am filing for chapter 7.
 

Ladynred

Senior Member
The form doesn't ask for marital status, only has space for individual and spouse. You just don't fill in the 'spouse' portion. Under "type of debtor' you'd just check 'Individual'.

As for your STBX spouse, if there is ANYTHING that you think he might come back to you for money for, then you really should add him to your creditor matrix. This will prevent him from trying to collect money from you later for just about anything. If there's nothing like that, then leave him out of it and he should never know. I would do one thing though - if your STBX reads the newspaper, you might want to check to see if your local newspaper still publishes the names of people who have filed for BK - some papers still publish that info, which sucks but who knows.
 
H

hchhon

Guest
Ladyred,
Your so helpful and I really appreciated. The reason I ask either I should include my spouse's income because the question came up on the Client Questionnaire For Non-Bussiness Debtor form that one of the lawyer sent me. I don't know if this a standard form or this form was designed specifictly for this law firm. I am not familiar with this form. This form has seven sections:

Section 1 - Basic Information
Part A. Name and Address
Part B. Name and Address of Spouse
Part C. Prior/Pending Bankruptcy Cases

Section 2 - Property
Part A. Real Estate (Schedule A)
Part B. Personal Property (Schedule B)
1. Cash on hand
2. Checking/Savings Account, Certificates of deposit, other bank accounts. And the list goes on. There are abount 33 items under this Part B.

Section 3 - Debts

Section 4 - Unexpired Leases and Contracts (Shedule G)

Section 5 - Current Income
Marital Status:
Married
Single
Divorced
Separated
Windowed

List dependents:

Do I need to chose one of the the marital status?


Part A. Debtor's Income
Part B. Joint Debtor's Income

Section 6 - Current Expenses
"Do you and your spouse maintain separated households? NO or YES. If so, fill one page out for your household and another for your spouse's".

Should I list my spouse's household too?


Section 7 - Statement of Financial Affairs.


My lawyer told me to fill out this form before go to see her. Is this the form that determine if you are eligible for Chapter 7 or not?
 
Last edited:

Ladynred

Senior Member
This looks like something the lawfirm has made up to use to fill in the information on the formal BK schedules.

Do I need to chose one of the the marital status?
I'd say you need to choose 'Separated'

Should I list my spouse's household too?
Unfortunately, if she's requiring you to fill this form out, you're probably going to have to. I'd call her office and ask her why you'd have to list his household since you are separated and he isn't involved in your bankruptcy. I'd just say YES you maintain separate households, but I'd still call her and find out what the impact and reasoning is.

Is this the form that determine if you are eligible for Chapter 7 or not?
No, the BK court actually makes the decision, not the lawyer. I think this is just information for them to use to fill out the forms.
 

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