Painful situation...
I got laid off Aug 08. My wife makes very little money and presented me with a separation agreement with questionnable terms along with a promissary note (never agreed upon, never signed) in both names to repay her father for his monthly contributions! Even though I never asked in law for money!
All my pay went to our joint checking to pay for mortgage and other expenses and also the unemployment check since when I lost the job, still contributed but not as much (50% of the mortgage).
Financial situation is tough, and I was told that the longer I stay in the house the less money I get (potential buy out). I am questionning the validity of this note and consider it a sham.. now what happens also to my credit card debts? We are in N.C
Your thoughts?

It is obvous you don't have an attorney, don't sign anything, do not agree to anything until you talk to an attorney.

Martial property division is done by state law but then you may even be ordered to help pay with the home

So you need to do is talk to a local attorney.

You and her will fight over who pays what, who keeps what and so on

I'm very confused about what your situation is. If you were presented a separation agreement but did not agree to it, did a court ever affirm it?

You can't be held responsible for something you didn't agree to.

The promissory note is just a proposal, there's no "validity" to it --it has no legal significance until you sign off on it (if wife wants to sign off on it alone then fine, but then it's her personal obligation).

Staying in the house has nothing to do with your interest in it or your wife's. So I'm not sure what your question is there.

Credit cards involving debt incurred during marriage are usually shared equally.