divorce and bankruptcy

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin. My husband left and is currently living with another woman that he is now engaged to. I filed for divorce but at every turn we cannot agree. We have a lot of credit card debt accumulated during the marriage. He wants to claim bankruptcy ( Chapter 7 ) I don't. Can he force me to claim because we are still legally married? I know that support cannot be discharged but both of our names are on the house deed and I do not want to be forced to give up my home and further ruin my credit report. All advice is welcome.

mouse1012 said:

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin. My husband left and is currently living with another woman that he is now engaged to. I filed for divorce but at every turn we cannot agree. We have a lot of credit card debt accumulated during the marriage. He wants to claim bankruptcy ( Chapter 7 ) I don't. Can he force me to claim because we are still legally married? I know that support cannot be discharged but both of our names are on the house deed and I do not want to be forced to give up my home and further ruin my credit report. All advice is welcome.

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If you don't file chapter 7 together, then either of you could end up stuck with the entire debt. The creditors are not a party to your divorce and will not be bound by any divorce agreements or orders.

If you could possibly qualify to refinance the house on your own prior to any bankruptcy filing taking place that would give you the option to reaffirm the mortgage in a bankruptcy. If not, then you should sell the home before filing bankruptcy.

Again, he can file chapter 7 without your agreement and basically stick you with any joint debts....therefore forcing you to end up filing anyway.

LdiJ said:

If you don't file chapter 7 together, then either of you could end up stuck with the entire debt. The creditors are not a party to your divorce and will not be bound by any divorce agreements or orders.

If you could possibly qualify to refinance the house on your own prior to any bankruptcy filing taking place that would give you the option to reaffirm the mortgage in a bankruptcy. If not, then you should sell the home before filing bankruptcy.

Again, he can file chapter 7 without your agreement and basically stick you with any joint debts....therefore forcing you to end up filing anyway.

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I am already agreeing to take on all the debt and I have checked with a couple of mortgage companies and they will refinance my house and consolidate all the debt into one. Do you think that this will save me from losing my house?

mouse1012 said:

I am already agreeing to take on all the debt and I have checked with a couple of mortgage companies and they will refinance my house and consolidate all the debt into one. Do you think that this will save me from losing my house?

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Yes, that would obviously solve the problem. If that is the case then why is your spouse insisting on filing bankruptcy?

LdiJ said:

Yes, that would obviously solve the problem. If that is the case then why is your spouse insisting on filing bankruptcy?

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He has back debt from when he was with his first wife that she refuses to pay and it falls to him to pay. He can't afford to pay his child support to her and pay me to clear up our debt and still have money to live on. (That's where the new fiance comes in to support him while he pays us.)
He's not very "savvy" when it comes to things that have to be filed with paperwork. I think that he is just trying to scare me into believing that he can take away my house. I just needed to be sure that he can't. I've been reading up on chapter 7 and found out that he can't discharge any maintaince. I don't think that he knows this and he thinks that he is going to stick me with all the debt and take away my house so that I have nothing. I am learning that it's just a line of BS. Knowledge is power and I have more than he does.
Thank you for your help and support. You made me feel a lot better about my situation.