Can my wife and I file for bankruptcy separately?

The main advantage of filing bankruptcy before divorce is to know, before going into the divorce process, how your debts will be handled. That will make things easier when you divide up the marital property and, thanks to the automatic stay connected to all bankruptcies, it will eliminate dunning calls and letters from bill collectors. That said, there are a number of things it will not do: * Shelter you from alimony * Stop you from having to pay child support * Eliminate student loans * Stop you from paying criminal restitution * Affect the demands of your property settlement The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be anything other than the educated opinion of the author. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change.

Yes. File in central downtown and not Santa Monica.

Yes, you can file for bankruptcy separately, and doing that before filing for divorce will make the divorce simpler, while divorcing before filing for bankruptcy won't make anything simpler, so if you're going to do them both, do the bankruptcy first. Disclaimer: Please note that this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on, since each state has different laws, each situation is fact specific, and it is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship.