ファミリーの掲示板でよく「夫の借金を離婚や自己破産の時に妻が払ないといけないか?」というトピがあがるけど、そのたびに「そんなの夫婦なんだから当たり前じゃん!」「そんな都合のいい話はない」とか、挙句の果てに「そんな男と結婚したあなたは悪い」なんて叩かれてるのをよく見るけど、それって本当かなぁ?
いつか忘れたけど、半年ほど前にもそんなトピがあがって、「借金は夫婦折半があたりまえ」っていう意見が大半の中に一人だけ「ジョイント口座」やその借金に奥さんもサインしていなかったら。妻に払う義務はないっていう自己破産サイトの情報を出してる人がいた。どんな意見だったか詳しくは忘れたし、過去トピ探すのも面倒だったので、私も調べてみたらbankruptcy-canada という自己破産のサイトに
Filing for bankruptcy in Canada does not directly affect your spouse. Your debts are your debts; only you are responsible for them. If you go bankrupt, your debts are discharged. Your husband or wife or common-law spouse is NOT responsible for your debts.
Many people believe that because you are married, your spouse is automatically responsible for your debts. This is not true. Often collection agents, when they are trying to collect from you, tell you that if you don’t pay they will get the money from your spouse. This is a collection agency scare tactic; they can only go after you for your debts.
The only exception is if your spouse has co-signed or guaranteed your debt. For example, if you took out a loan and your spouse co-signed for it, it is also legally their loan. If you both have a credit card on the same account, the credit card debt legally belongs to both of you.