Yeah, I did it about 5 years ago after my divorce. My ex wife recieved all the assets, and the judge figured since I had a job, I could take all the bills. State law was not applied in my divorce, and just after I had found out my ex was screwing someone else, she went and maxed out ALL the cards. I went from 300 dollars total debt to over 14,000 at 21% interest in a week. I was being paid an E-4 Salary. When the judge gave me all the debt (except for one card with 200 bucks on it), it quickly became more than I could bear. 75% of my take home pay was gobbled up by debts on stuff I didn't even own. I went to an attorney, and he suggested bankruptcy. I did it myself though and found it pretty easy if you have a knack for legal stuff. I guess the most satisfying feeling was that I didn't actually stiff those people who were owed money, because they then just went after my ex wife!
Your credit will be destroyed for 7 -10 years, but I was able to buy a house with really reasonable terms (under 9%) just two years later. You also learn to use cash which is never a bad thing. I won't use credit anymore except in cases of dire emergency, or a house or somthing big.
In Texas, the law is pretty liberal. You may keep your house, 1 car per person in the household (regardless of whether or not they are old enough to drive it), up to 250 acres, I think up to 25 head of cattle, all sorts of livestock, all necessary farming emplements, all your tools of your trade, and here's the best part: All of your guns are protected. I think it was the right thing to do. It won't be as bad as you think.
