Co-signers will still owe the full amount of the debt, even if you you get your personal liability discharged in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Chapter 7 offers is no protection of co-debtors. If someone has cosigned a loan for you, they will be held fully responsible for the debt after your personal liability has been discharged. Married couples may need to file together if many of their debts are jointly owned.
Chapter 13 does have a "co-debtor stay" that protects your coeditors during the bankruptcy, and it allows you to structure you Chapter 13 plan classifies co-signed debts specially so they are paid in full.
The content of this article pertains to all US states and counties.
Discharging student loans in bankruptcy has always been more difficult than discharging other unsecured debt like credit cards. You have to prove “undue hardship” in a special, additional "adversary proceeding." But navigating this path of extra procedure should be a bit easier in 2023 and beyond, thanks to new Department of Education guidelines telling their lawyers not to challenge debtors seeking undue hardship discharges if they meet specific criteria.
Bankruptcy can eliminate some kinds of debts, like credit card debt and medical debt, but not others, like child support and (in most cases) student loans. And liens associated with "purchase money secured debts", where you have pledged collateral for a loan, also are not affected by a bankruptcy, so you can still lose the collateral to the lien-holder.
By law, child support obligations generally cannot be avoided in a bankruptcy. They pass pretty much intact.