Hello. I'm in debt way over my head due to personal reasons and need to either have my debts charge off or file bankruptcy. I'm afraid of being sued by a couple of creditors due to high amounts owed to them (around 20K each). What are the chances of that happening? Also, I'm married and in live in Texas. We rent a home and ALL of the debt is in my name only. How would filing for bankruptcy or having charge offs affect her credit? Can they go after her to pay for the debt since we are married and file our taxes jointly? She did add me to one of her credit cards several years ago, but that account is in excellent standing with no balance. That is the only credit or loan document that has both of our names on it.. Any comments / suggestions / direction is welcome. Thank you.
Your debts are likely already charged off. Have you pulled your credit reports to see how they're currently listed? If not, you should do that right away. Also, since we're talking about relatively large amounts here, the chances are much higher that your creditors will sue you if you can't pay. If none of your credit is in your spouse's name too, then her credit score should be fairly well protected from anything that happens to you. The fact that she added you as an AU to one card won't make a difference. I do believe TX is a community property state, which means some CAs might come after your spouse claiming that she's responsible as well. You should really talk with a bankruptcy attorney to learn more about how that may play out in TX.
