Well we are planning on filing in small claims court for a bill her ex failed to pay which then damaged my fiance's credit. We have settled with the bill collector for the amount of $683 and were told that if it is indeed in the divorce decree that it was his bill to satisfy that we can sue him for this payment.

Is this true? What will be our chances in court? We have a copy of the receipt for the payment to the collections agency, plus a copy of the divorce decree stating it was his debt to satisfy.

I'm answering a question with a question - why not just file against him for contempt of court in failing to meet the terms of the divorce agreement?

I cannot speak for NJ but in my area of NY this case would not be heard in Small Claims but would be sent back to the Supreme Court, which hears divorces.

I did not think of that Judy, the problem was that since he was not paying the bill, it went onto my fiance's credit report and showed up as a $2000 collections account and wasn't allowing her to get a loan with me for a house.

This a very common problem. What people don't understand is that a divorce decree is an order that involves the husband and the wife as it relates to some else, in this case, the credit card company. Since the credit card company,or any other creditor, was not a party to the action, he is not bound by the divorce decree and may go after both parties who were the original debtors. Don't blame the creditor. Take X to court for contempt as Judy suggested. He may have to pay for it and maybe go to jail too.