SnooperDuper, I am agreeing with you. I'm not saying that JO had to file with RO. I'm talking about the fallout of having declared bankruptcy down the road. When filling in applications, etc., for i.e., a mortgage. One spouse may have excellent credit, the other crappy for 5 to 7 years as it is glaringly apparent to the lender when they look at someone's credit history and seeing none, that they are a huge risk. In this instance, an accountant at that which makes it even worse in the lender's eyes. It's the bankrupt spouse's credit rating that hurts the union "overall" when trying to apply/get credit afterwards. Even something as simple as a rent application can be denied and oftentimes, a cosigner is requested. I know of one family who had to have one of the dad's actually take out the mortgage on their home and they paid him (who then paid the mortgage). Both didn't declare bankruptcy, just the husband did, but the bank didn't care they were flat out denied. That's what I mean by "default the other person..."