Ownership of the Debt

• If you incurred your debt before your marriage, you are solely responsible for its payment. While bankruptcy provides protection from most creditors, if your wife has no responsibility for your debt, then adding her to your bankruptcy petition provides her with no benefit. In this situation, including your wife in your bankruptcy would cause more harm than good, as her credit report will show the bankruptcy for up to 10 years and her credit score will be damaged.
  
  

Community Property Considerations

• According to the Nolo website, the nine community property states are Arizona, Louisiana, Colorado, Nevada, California, Texas, Washington, New Mexico and Idaho. In a community property state, each spouse is responsible for all debt incurred during the marriage, regardless of whether both or only one spouse signed for the debt. In this scenario, you may consider including your wife in your bankruptcy to protect her from creditors. If you obtain a discharge for joint debt in a community property state, your creditors may be entitled to pursue your wife for the repayment of the entire debt, even though you are personally discharged.
  
  

Past Bankruptcy Filings

• According to federal bankruptcy procedures, you are limited in the number of times you can file bankruptcy over a given period. You cannot file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy if you have filed a Chapter 7 in the past eight years or if you filed a Chapter 13 in the past six years and paid creditors less than 70 percent of the amount owed. You cannot file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy if you filed for Chapter 7 in the past four years or if you filed a Chapter 13 in the past two years. If your wife has a recent bankruptcy, you may have no option but to leave her off your bankruptcy filing.
  
  

Credit Score

• Filing for bankruptcy remains on your credit report for 10 years in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and seven years in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. If you or your wife intend to use credit, you may encounter higher interest rates or be denied altogether if a bankruptcy appears on your credit report. If it makes financial sense, you may want to keep you wife off your bankruptcy filing to protect her credit score.
  
  

Types of Bankruptcy

• The two main types of consumer bankruptcy are Chapter 13 and Chapter 7. Chapter 7, known as a liquidation bankruptcy, requires you to turn over any assets over certain exemption levels in exchange for a discharge of most of your debts. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy consists of a payment plan to your creditors over three to five years. Under a Chapter 13, you can keep your assets. The financial situation of you and your wife can play a role in the type of bankruptcy you file and whether you file singly or jointly.