When I sit down with a potential client during a bankruptcy consultation, I ask them to tell me about their debts. I am always a little amazed when I talk to couples and watch as one or the other learn about debts they never knew of. Turns out things are worse than they thought.
Apparently, there’s a phrase for this: financial infidelity. And, it turns out, it’s not that uncommon. According to a story on forbes.com, 31% of Americans have admitted to lying to their spouse about money.
While some come to need bankruptcy through unforeseen circumstances like unemployment or overwhelming medical debt, some get there through financial mismanagement. One thing that can contribute to this is by not disclosing all of your debts to your spouse. My advice is to make sure that both spouses know where all of the household money is going. That doesn’t mean that there needs to be joint bank accounts, but the household budget still needs to be balanced. And if someone is keeping something “off the books”, that may make it difficult.
Before you get to the point where you need to see a bankruptcy attorney, sit down with your partner and make sure that you both know where all of your household money is going to.
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