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rarebird62 · Mar 17, 2007, 06:34 PM

Hi,

My husband has been hiding debt / income from me. I have found out about a couple of unsecured personal loans and a large debt on a joint credit card. The loans do not have my name on them, and the credit card bill has his name only on the bill. I have cancelled my part of that card. Could I still be responsible for his debt? Also there is a second mortgage - line of credit which is mostly his equpment. The house has been mine for over 10 years prior to marriage. I have been paying for most of the household bills, including both mortgages, will he have to pay for his part of the second mortgage? He is presently living out of the house in a camper purchased by me before we were married. Can I lose that also? (there is a relief of Abuse order with no findings on him now. He has entered counseling, which was part of the deal as I was filing for divorce that day if he fought me in court, at that time he wanted to stay married to me, now I'm not sure, and I'm worried he may be running up more debt that I am not aware of, he has changed his address. How do I protect/prepare myself if this goes to divorce?

excon · Mar 18, 2007, 06:02 AM

Originally Posted by rarebird62

how do I protect/prepare myself if this goes to divorce?

Hello rare:

You hire the best damn family attorney you can. And, you do it Monday morning.

excon

Fr_Chuck · Mar 18, 2007, 06:28 AM

Yes hire the best attorney. And I am not sure how you "cancell" your part of a joint credit card, once it is joint, my understanding is the entire card has to be cancelled to cancell both parties from it.

As for he HAVING to pay second mortgage, oh the divorce court may order him to, but he may not and you will end up paying it, that happens all the time, then you have to take him back for not paying, the divorce court ording someone to pay this or that debt does not take the other persons name off the debt.

You need a very good attorney at this point

jtoliver · Mar 18, 2007, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by rarebird62

Hi,

My husband has been hiding debt / income from me. I have found out about a couple of unsecured personal loans and a large debt on a joint credit card. The loans do not have my name on them, and the credit card bill has his name only on the bill. I have cancelled my part of that card. Could I still be responsible for his debt? Also there is a second mortgage - line of credit which is mostly his equpment. The house has been mine for over 10 years prior to marraige. I have been paying for most of the household bills, including both mortgages, will he have to pay for his part of the second mortgage? He is presently living out of the house in a camper purchased by me before we were married. Can I lose that also? (there is a relief of Abuse order with no findings on him now. He has entered counseling, which was part of the deal as I was filing for divorce that day if he fought me in court, at that time he wanted to stay married to me, now I'm not sure, and I'm worried he may be running up more debt that I am not aware of, he has changed his address. how do I protect/prepare myself if this goes to divorce?

Are you in the US or the UK?

rarebird62 · Mar 18, 2007, 06:18 PM

I'm in USA, Vermont.

rarebird62 · Mar 18, 2007, 06:23 PM

To Fr Chuck. The credit card was HIS debt, but I had a card to use. That's why I was able to cancel my card. So I'm not sure what the word is, but he allowed me to use the card. It did show up on my credit rating, so, I'm thinking that since I cancelled my part, worst case senerio, would be that I'm responsible for what was on there before. It's about $5,000. The two unsecured personal loans that he has shouldn't be my responsibility, I'm thinking. The second mortgage is going to be sticky.

jenisme1995 · Mar 19, 2007, 05:41 AM

I myself am going through divorce and we will be splitting the debt on our house so we will both have to file bankruptcy. I filed for divorce when my husband said he would go to counseling and went to one session. Bottom line I contact a family law attorney and if you decide to file for divorce then you will kind of have a idea on what could happen.

excon · Mar 19, 2007, 06:09 AM

Originally Posted by rarebird62

worst case senerio, would be that I'm responsible for what was on there before. It's about $5,000. The two unsecured personal loans that he has shouldn't be my responsibility, I'm thinking. The second mortgage is going to be sticky.

Hello again, rare:

If you're going to be held responsible for the credit card, then you will. It doesn't matter what the balance is or when. The two unsecured loans?? While it very well should not be your responsibility, that doesn't make it so.

That attorney that you're going to hire this morning - make sure he understands credit issues.

excon

PS> You're being awfully reasonable - wouldn't it be great if the courts were too?

Squiffy · Mar 19, 2007, 06:44 AM

I am going through divorce at present, I was told by my solicitor that any debt accrued during marriage can be seen as joint debt, whoevers name it is in. It becomes marital debt, but any debts from before marriage is separate.

I would have a chat with your lawyer.

excon · Mar 19, 2007, 06:55 AM

Hello again, rare:

The Squiffanator is right on. In terms of credit (or any legal agreement for that matter), a marriage is a legal entity. Either party can bind the marriage and both parties can be held responsible for the agreements made by the other during the marriage, either jointly or severally.

What that last part means, is that if any of the debts of the marriage become past due, then either party can be sued and made to pay ALL of it.

The next item you need to consider (like the Padre said), is that the above agreements take precedent over a divorce decree. What that means, is that even if the divorce decree orders, say the MasterCard debt to be paid by the husband, and he doesn't pay it, YOU will still be held responsible for the debt and will be sued for it.

Like I said, make sure your lawyer understands credit issues. You need to question him. Lots of lawyers have no clue.

excon