What are some examples of bankruptcy marital adjustments?

A marital adjustment refers to the portion of your spouse's income that you don't have to include on your bankruptcy means test.

If you are married and you file for bankruptcy, the usual rule is that all of your income and all of your spouse's income must be included in the means test, whether you file jointly or alone. The higher your income, the more likely you are to fail the means test (which means you can't file under Chapter 7, among other things). 

If you and your spouse are legally separated and don't live together, you don't have to include your spouse's income. Everybody else has to include spousal income. However, you may take a marital adjustment if your spouse doesn't contribute all of his or her income to the household. You can subtract the amount that isn't available to you on the means test form. Here are a couple of examples:

• If your spouse pays $800 in child support to her ex each month, you can subtract that amount as a marital adjustment. 
• If your spouse pays a mortgage on property he owns separately (for example, a home he inherited from his parents), you may subtract that amount.