Joint Filing By Spouses Living in Different States

A new bankruptcy client retained me today to file a joint bankruptcy petition. The husband moved to Florida from Massachusetts within the past year and currently resides in Florida. His current wife remained in Massachusetts for her job, and the wife is a still a permanent resident of Massachusetts. Under the new bankruptcy law, the husband may file in Florida provided that his bankruptcy proceeds under Massachusetts exemption law. The client’s first question is whether he and his wife can file a joint bankruptcy in Florida while they are domiciled in different states.

I believe the husband and wife can file a joint petition in Florida so long as one of the spouses is currently domiciled in Florida. Generally, two spouses living in different states an filing jointly must choose which state exemptions they want to use. The two spouses cannot divide, split, or stack exemptions of different states. In this instance, there is no exemption issues as both spouses must file under Massachusetts exemptions.

posted by Jonathan Alper, bankruptcy and asset protection lawyer, Orlando, Florida