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Joint Filing/Separated Spouses
This is a question which I believe I already know the answer to, but a friend of mine (whom I keep telling to join cdcbaa already) brought it up, and it made me start to second-guess myself as well.
Potential chapter 7 BK. Husband and wife just legally separated. She kinda sorta moves out to Mom's house which is down the street. Husband's business is in the tank, so he makes nothing; she makes fairly good income. If still together, this would not be a problem, the expenses easily overwhelm the total income, since his is nil. But with separate Schedule Js, now he's REALLY upside down, while she, who is living at home, is now right side up.
My thinking over the years was that OK, sure, you can file jointly, but both spouses have to show that they are breaking even or upside down - if one is over, there is a problem. However just recently I made an appearance on someone's case (not sure whom it was, wish I remember now) in which there was a similar situation, and the Trustee never mentioned anything. Case went through no problem.
Am I missing something here? I know this wouldn't matter as far as the Means Test goes, but I thought it did in Schedules I/J. I suppose you could easily make the argument that yeah, right NOW Wife is at home, but Schedule J is a forward looking document, and she will have significant expenses what with finding a place with enough room for kids, separate food bills, etc. But is that even necessary?
Todd Mannis, Esq.
The post was migrated from Yahoo.