Hey Debtors-
Got some bad news for you. It's Monday! So let's just do it, and get a fairly dry topic out of the way: what happens to community property in bankruptcy. I could record a very long episode and write an entire treatise on this one subject, but we'll keep it under eight minutes instead!
Episode contents-
- 0:05 Hello! Introductions
- 0:46 Today's topic
- 6:08 It's a wrap; see you tomorrow
A (very) brief introduction to community property
Community property is a legal concept that comes up for those in most Western states, and two oddball states: Louisiana and Wisconsin.
The general concept is as follows. Anything you owned before you were married is separate property, and anything you acquire during marriage is community property. If and when you separate, then anything you acquire becomes separate property. Similar rules apply to debt as well. (There are a lot of details here, but those are the general rules).
What happens in bankruptcy?
If you both file together, then community property may never come up as an issue since all your separate property AND your community property is going to become part of the bankruptcy estate. (Same with debts.)
If you're filing separately, however, things get a little more interesting. The general rule is that all the community debts AND the community assets "come into" the bankruptcy, even if the other spouse doesn't file, which could mean a lot of things for how you might plan your bankruptcy case.
Listen to today's episode to hear me bumble through the issue!