Understand that bankruptcy does not erase debt for cosigners. A cosigner agrees to pay your debt in the event that you cannot pay. For example, a parent may have cosigned an auto loan for you when you graduated from college because you had little or no credit. However, if you declare bankruptcy, a cosigner on your loan may still be legally obligated to repay your debt. For example, your parent may still have to repay all or part of that car loan, even if you declare bankruptcy.[2]