Understanding the Relationship Between Bankruptcy and Divorce
At Purrazzella & Purrazzella, P.A., our lawyers understand how marital and financial problems are often interrelated. We help people deal with the financial consequences of divorce both before and after the dissolution of marriage. To learn how you can benefit from our experience and insight, contact us in Toms River for a free consultation.
Call 732-691-4589 or 888-825-9980 in Ocean County or Monmouth County
When debt pressures strain a marriage past the breaking point and it's clear that the division of marital property will primarily involve the apportionment of particular debts between the spouses, it makes sense to consider bankruptcy as a couple prior to commencing the divorce. You'll have the chance to protect a larger portion of home equity, and you'll also have the opportunity to discharge most unsecured debts. Each spouse stands to benefit from carrying less debt after the marriage is over. Property division issues will also be easier to resolve.
The prospect of divorce can also affect your choice of options when your home mortgage is in trouble. Each spouse should carefully consider whether it makes sense for either of them to keep the marital residence, especially if there is no equity in the house. Resolving a home mortgage problem prior to divorce can allow the spouses to bargain with a lender from a position of relative strength, and can remove a major barrier to resolution of divorce property division issues.
Sometimes the greatest financial pressures don't show up until after the divorce is final, when each spouse needs to manage a separate household, and one spouse might be paying substantial alimony or child support payments. Neither alimony nor child support is dischargeable in bankruptcy. In fact, support payments related to divorce are among the very few kinds of debt that are not affected by bankruptcy's automatic stay. Nevertheless, the relief from other debt pressure and the prospect of discharge on general unsecured debts can free up cash flow to make support payments work.
To learn more about the ways divorce and bankruptcy considerations should be considered together under certain circumstances, contact an experienced New Jersey consumer attorney at Purrazzella & Purrazzella, P.A., in Toms River for a free consultation.
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.
