Just got served with court summons for credit card debt in California. What should I do?????

What you should do really depends on what assets you have and other factors.  I agree filing bankruptcy probably wouldn't be worth it if this is your only debt.  If you don't have any major assets (like a house) and neither you nor your wife have a job, then you're basically judgment proof (but again, without all the facts, I can't anticipate all the potential issues). That being the case, why do you care whether Capital One gets a judgment against you or not?  The only thing they can do is possibly seize your bank accounts eventually, but you can avoid that by not leaving large sums of money in there. Once you get jobs again, you can negotiate a payment plan with them.  Frankly, the longer you go without paying (and you can show up at the judgment debtor examination and show you're unemployed with no assets, etc.) and once they realize you don't have anything, they'll be much more willing to settle for a lower amount.   Filing an Answer to the complaint merely delays the inevitable.  It will set out a trial several months down the road, instead of them getting the judgment now.  So it might be worth it, but I can't explain to you how to file an Answer in this forum.  And there is a cost to filing an Answer ( a couple hundred dollars I believe, but I don't really practice in state court). Most likely the best option for you is to sit tight, and after they get their judgment against you, once you get your income back on the right track, settle with them. If you DO have assets with significant equity, then you need to see an attorney.   Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991.  He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization,  AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau.