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I am planning to get married soon after I file. Will my bankruptcy affect my spouse?

1 minute read Upsolve is a nonprofit that helps you get out of debt with education and free debt relief tools, like our bankruptcy filing tool. Think TurboTax for bankruptcy. Get free education, customer support, and community. Featured in Forbes 4x and funded by institutions like Harvard University so we'll never ask you for a credit card.  Explore our free tool


In a Nutshell

Usually your individual bankruptcy will not affect your new spouse. If you are filing for a Chapter 7, is can be helpful to wait until after you receive your discharge to get married just in case.

Written by Kristin Turner, Harvard Law Grad
Updated July 22, 2020


Usually your individual bankruptcy will not affect your new spouse. If you are filing for a Chapter 7, is can be helpful to wait until after you receive your discharge to get married just in case.

Your bankruptcy will only impact your spouse if you share joint debt. If you have any joint debts where your spouse is a cosigner s/he will need to keep up with payments. It could also impact any new loan for joint debt, if your lower credit score leads to a higher interest rate. If you’re about to get married, check out our article on how bankruptcy works when it comes to getting married for more information.



Written By:

Kristin Turner, Harvard Law Grad

LinkedIn

Kristin is a recipient of Harvard Law School’s Public Welfare Foundation A2J Tech Fellowship. At Harvard Law, she served as a member of the Harvard Defenders, the Women’s Law Association, and the Harvard Law Negotiation Review. She was the 2016 – 2017 president of the Harvard Bla... read more about Kristin Turner, Harvard Law Grad

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