FILING JOINTLY

FILING JOINTLY

Married couples have special issues that they should take into account when filing for bankruptcy. Although not a requirement in New Jersey bankruptcy cases, spouses have the option to file a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy petition jointly. This is a special type of bankruptcy filing that allows spouses to file together. Essentially, a joint filing involves two separate bankruptcy cases that are administered as a single case in the interest of judicial economy. Only one filing fee is paid for a joint filing.

Is an Individual or Joint Filing Right For Me?

Determining whether you should file individually or jointly with your spouse is an important issue to consider when determining whether to file for bankruptcy in New Jersey. If you and your spouse share much of your debt, it may be in your best interests to file your petition jointly, as your spouse may be held liable by creditors for the debt that you share. When you consider that many married couples have joint credit cards, mortgage loans and car loans, filing a bankruptcy case jointly in Bergen/Hudson or Passaic County may be the only way to avoid having one spouse held liable for these debts by creditors who may enter a wage garnishment order or bank levy against the assets you want to protect.

Joint and individual bankruptcy in New Jersey will have different impacts on a debtor depending on whether they file a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case. For example, filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy means that the non-filing spouse may be offered more protection from liability for shared debts. Chapter 7, however, may offer no protection to the non-filing spouse.

Discussing the advantages and impacts that a joint bankruptcy filing by husband and wife in New Jersey will have on you and your spouse is important - and a free consultation with Bergen/Hudson County bankruptcy lawyer, Rafael Gomez will help you get started.


Mr. Gomez has helped many married couples who filed jointly and have lived in, for example, Hackensack, Bogota, Maywood, Little Ferry, Paramus, Rochelle Park, Moonachie, Wood Ridge, Hasbrouck Heights, Lodi, Garfield, Oradell, Closter, Englewood, Bergenfield, Teaneck, Ridgefield Park, Cliffside Park, Palisades Park, Leonia, Fort Lee, Tenafly, Fairview and other Bergen County communities. He has also filed joint bankruptcy cases for married couples living in the Hudson County communities of Union City, West New York, North Bergen, Jersey City, Guttenberg, Secaucus, Bayonne, Kearny, Harrison, East Newark and other nearby communities. In Passaic County, Mr. Gomez has filed joint bankruptcy case/petitions for married couples with marital debt who lived in Paterson, Passaic, Clifton, Hawthorne, Haledon, West Milford, West Paterson/Woodland Park, Prospect Park, Ringwood, Totowa and Wayne.