Filing For Bankruptcy When You Want To Divorce Your Spouse: Strategies To Eliminate Your Debt Successfully

When you want to divorce your spouse, money problems may be one of the biggest issues between you. If your marriage has significant debts and few assets, you may be able to file for bankruptcy together before filing for divorce. If you and your spouse are not on good terms, you may need to negotiate as much of the unsecured marital debt that you can. When you owe back taxes, child support payments or student loans, these are debts that won't be written off in a bankruptcy. On the other hand, credit card balances, car loans and even your mortgage may be taken care of in a bankruptcy filing.

Focus on Taking Over Unsecured Debt 

If you are planning to file for bankruptcy once your divorce is final, you'll want to focus on taking responsibility for unsecured debt wherever you can. Each of you will need to have your fair share of the marital debt, but this doesn't mean everything simply gets split in half. If your spouse was the one working while you stayed at home with the children, you may need to file for bankruptcy while they simply move on with their lives. Look at the overall debt of the marriage, and work hard to take over only those debts you can write off.

Consider Filing for Bankruptcy Together

Your ex may agree to filing for bankruptcy prior to filing for divorce. This will clear up your marital debt before your divorce is final, making it easier to determine what's left for assets in your marriage. While you may have very little assets left, you should be able to keep a car that's in your name and a small amount of cash. When you file for bankruptcy together, both of you will have your unsecured debts discharged and the secured debts of the marriage will have a payment plan attached to them.

Stick to Any Repayment Schedule

When you want to get your financial life back under control after a divorce, you have to stick to any repayment schedule that's been established. When you focus on paying off your debt every month, you will soon get your life back. It's hard to get your finances in order, especially if you move out on your own and you now have to pay for all of your living needs as a single person. If you have secured debt that has a repayment schedule, make your payments so that your credit score will start to rise.