Divorce and finance..... whats the first step....?

so my husband and i are going to be seperating soon, and we have alot of debt and a mortgage, what are the first steps to cleaning this up and everything is in both our names, i'm just very overwelmed with all of this... is bankrupcy a horrible idea? at least it would erase all our debt and we could both start over on our own?? but i know it haunts you....i need advice... bad...

The distribution of assets and debts will be an issue you have to negotiate during the divorce process. If you can't negotiate a settlement, then the judge will do it and you will have to incur a lot of legal costs. The best thing is to line up your attorneys and start the negotiations.

Your home is probably your biggest asset. In most cases, you will be entitled to half of the equity in the home. If neither of you are in a position to buy out the others home equity, it might be wise to sell off the house and pay off the mortgage. You could then split the remaining debt between the two of you, and you could use your equity to pay off the debt, or you could use your part of the equity to buy a new smaller home and keep paying for your portion of the debt.

I think it is too early to think about bankruptcy unless you have looked at the alternatives. I would rather sell the home and use the proceeds to pay off the other debt than declare bankruptcy and not be able to borrow again for a while at reasonable interest rates.

Bottom line, start the divorce process and try to come to a meeting of the minds on how you will split things up. Put the emotions aside if you can. Good luck!