Yes. Just because you are married, you are not required to file a joint husband and wife case. Many people have debts that they had before the marriage. A spouse is not liable for the other spouse's pre-marital debts.
Marital support and property settlement obligations cannot be discharged.
In community property states, like Wisconsin, your bankruptcy leaves your spouse with any debt incurred during the marriage, unless the spouse also files.
Even if you file without your spouse, you must disclose household income. People with working spouses may be disqualified from Chapter 7 if the household income is over the state median as defined by the IRS.
However, if you ran up the bills during the marriage, even though your spouse did not sign for the debt, or even know about it, your creditors may be able to collect from your spouse. Many states have "family expense" laws that make one spouse responsible for the debts of another if the debts were incurred for family purposes. The theory is that each spouse owes a duty to immediate family members to support them. Food, clothing, rent, medical bills and household items can be the responsibility of the other spouse.
Therefore, while you can file a case alone, you may have to take into consideration any liability your spouse may have for your debts. You can protect your spouse from this liability by a joint filing, or, you can pay the debts that your spouse is liable for in a Chapter 13. Then, while you make the Chapter 13 payment, no creditor can bother your spouse. The same theory applies to co-signed debts.
