My husband has a judgment on his record from my debts before we were married, is this legal? On the Order it states both of our names but it is only on his credit and record not mine.

my husband has a judgment on his record from my debts before we were married, is this legal? on the Order it states both of our names but it is only on his credit and record not mine.

Were both of you served with process?

Did you answer, and indicate that the debts were not yours?

What gives you the impression that it's "only on his credit and record"? If it was a judgment against both of you, it would be on yours as well. On the other hand, you may have been named as a defendant, but you couldn't be served with process, in which case it could indeed be a judgment against him alone. The caption would be "___, plaintiff, v. [you] and [your husband], defendants", but the judgment could be only against him.

When you were served and there was a court action for the judgement, if both of you were named, that is when your husband needed to challenge the validity of the debt.

If the court issued the judgement in both names then yes it will show in both names.

The caption did read "____,plaintiff v. (me) and (my husband, defendants" as you stated above, I checked online on a public website and it is on his record but not mine, also we both had our credit pulled and the it stated the same. I picked up a summons for myself and one for my husband at the post office certified, because it was my debt I figured I would take care of it so he never saw the summons in his name, therefore he never challenged the validity of the debt. I understand that I handled this situation irresponsibly because I did not take care of it in a timely fashion and I let it escalate to the judgment and I am very upset with myself about it. I am wondering if there is anything I can do so his credit is not "tattooed" with this judgment.

Depending upon how the civil rules, in your jurisdiction, read, it is possible that the service of process upon your husband was improper. Had it been in my jurisdiction, for example, the certified mailing of process to him should have been for his signature only. He should see an attorney about getting the judgment set aside based upon improper service of process (assuming, again, that it was improper).

You are going to have to tell him about this. Only he has the standing necessary to go into court and get this corrected.

And your credit rating could be the least of your worries. The judgment creditor can seize your husband's non-exempt property, bank accounts, and perhaps even a portion of his paycheck.

Actually the last part of my question is that I did pay the debts off in November and it shows that the judgment was satisfied (I paid it off in november) would the fact that it is paid now make it harder for them to remove the judgement from his record? By the way I appreciate your feedback Ak lawyer, you are a big help.

... by the way i appreciate your feedback Ak lawyer, you are a big help.

Thanks. It's always nice to get a compliment like that. :)

Technically, since the judgment is moot, it might be difficult to get the default set aside. It wouldn't hurt to try, however.

You could also try contacting the plaintiff, explain that they sued your husband in error but that in any case you paid it off, and ask them to enter a corrected satisfaction of judgment reciting this error.

Another course of action might be to notify the credit reporting agencies of the circumstances so that a credit check would show that the default judgment was entered in error.

Ok. Thanks for all your help!

Thanks. It's always nice to get a complement like that. :)

Technically, since the judgment is moot, it might be difficult to get the default set aside. It wouldn't hurt to try, however.

You could also try contacting the plaintiff, explain that they sued your husband in error but that in any case you paid it off, and ask them to enter a corrected satisfaction of judgment reciting this error.

Another course of action might be to notify the credit reporting agencies of the circumstances so that a credit check would show that the default judgment was entered in error.


I realize that the proper use of the English language is very important to you so you will probably want to change complemeant to complimeant before someone "reddies" you.