If I am going through a divorce how will my ex-spouse filing bankruptcy affect me?

 

Alimony, maintenance, and/or support are protected from discharge in bankruptcy. Divorce decrees and separation agreements are covered by 11 U.S.C. Section 523(a)(15). This section states that these debts are not dischargeable unless:

(A) the debtor does not have the ability to pay such debt from income or property of the debtor not reasonably necessary to be expended for the maintenance or support of the debtor or a dependent of the debtor and, if the debtor is engaged in a business, for the payment of expenditures necessary for the continuation, preservation, and operation of such business; or

(B) discharging such debt would result in a benefit to the debtor that outweighs the detrimental consequences to a spouse, former spouse, or child of the debtor. 

Under the new bankruptcy law, child support has been advanced to a higher priority claim. While child support has always been non-dischargable, the new bankruptcy laws have moved child support ahead of other priority claims in an attempt to allocate child support funds in a "no asset bankruptcy".