“Dear Steve,
Live in NY
Wife only credit card debt 40K (her credit score is 640)
My credit card debt 9K (my credit score is 735)
House in my name only (both deed and mortgage)
I live in New York State and in May of this year I was lost my job. Luckily I was able to find another position in June of this year although with a 20% cut in salary. My wife due to medical problems has not worked for over 18 months, and she has been unable to qualify for disability.
Since our reduction in income our credit card debt has been increasing difficult to manage. At this point I have to make a choice on paying for the mortgage or making minimum payments on our credit cards (min payments are approx 900.00 per month). My Wife has ~ 40K (19K Chase, 12 K BofA, 9K Citi) of credit card debt in her name only, and I have a total of 9K in credit card debt in my name only. Our cars and house are in my name only (mortgage and deed). Since my wife is most likely not going to return to work, and doesn’t have any assets should I focus on paying my credit card debt off first and maintaining the mortgage payments?
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Our current credit scores are 735 for myself and 640 for my wife. What will happen if I stop making payments on her credit cards only for an extended amount of time (3-12 months) so I can save a little money and pay down the 9K of credit card debt in my name only?
Alan”
Dear Alan,
Based on her situation and the fact that her cards are in her name only, would it not just make logical sense to consider a bankruptcy just for her?
You can click here to find a local bankruptcy attorney and go talk to them for free about the situation. Once you do that and are more informed about that option, then come back and let me know if that makes sense for you.
Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.
