Do I need to include my spouse's income on my bankruptcy petition although I'm filing without her?

If you are married and filing for bankruptcy without your spouse, you must include your spouse's income on the bankruptcy petition, even if you are living in different households. The exception? If you and your spouse are legally separated and living in different households, you won't include your spouse's income.

In both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you are required to include your spouse's income in your bankruptcy petition. For Chapter 7, her income must be included when doing the means test. In Chapter 13, her income must be included to determine your disposable income to calculate your plan payments.

The potential problem with including her income is that it might make you ineligible for a Chapter 7, or might unreasonably inflate your Chapter 13 plan payments, which could strain your budget if she has her own bills and expenses to pay.

However, you might be able to reduce the amount of her income contribution by deducting the expenses for the second household. Also, income reduction can be achieved by using the marital adjustment deduction that allows you to deduct any personal expenses she pays that are hers alone, such as support payments from a previous marriage, and exclude that part of her income that is not used to support your household. Another example of a marital deduction expense might be student loan payments.

For more information on how this works, read The Marital Adjustment Deduction on the Means Test.