Talk to your lawyer, but I would imagine he she had any part in accumulating that debt, she is also responsible for it. Also, I am not sure if she can put conditions on what the money from the sale of the home can be used for, especially if that money is split 50/50.

Talk to a lawyer.

She's bat shit crazy if she thinks that will fly. It's not straight forward but short term debt like credit card debt is both persons responsibility.

Did you come into the marriage with that debt? Was it incurred during the marriage?

mine had to take *all* credit card debt 50k..but i dont think it works out like that for everyone

seems from what i read on here you should only have to take 1/2

dunno bernie..maybe my xs lawyer was full of batschitt

all debt is shared debt , no matter who's name is on it, if you earn that debt during the marriage then its both of yours, like wise the sale of a home is shared profit. you can put into the divorce decree that the money goes to make you solvent.

like for me i traded her share of the debt for her equity in the house, i keep the house , i pay off the debt. you cant just stick one person with all the bills and walk out with all the money.

depending on the state....if that card was used to purchase any...ANY..marital goods or services then it is marital debt and is most likely to be shared...if the card was used JUST for your things then it might get sticky.........my ex tried the same sheite and I showed that even though the card was in just my name it was used for marital debt....thus it was included in the marital debt with the rest......good luck....

i got the equity in the house too *smirk*

MSDE,

In your situation there was alot going on, correct? There were alot of assets and liabilities. In the case of your x's credit card debt it was just how the pie was split.

My ex ran up 60,000 dollars worth of credit card debt while we were separated, and I was not responsible for the debt as we were separated, although when he reneged on paying for the debt, I did receive all the calls from the collection agencies and it ruined my credit as we were still married. The credit card companies did not care that we were not living together as he put married on the cards when he originally got them.At the time we were married, but I never had any access to use of them. Divorce is rough on credit ratings, and assets .. ((Rman))) Kimmee

Same thing here Rman, my ex couldn't have credit cards due to the fact that his credit was so very low, so mine were used for everything.

My lawyer told me that I could go after him for the debt, using the statements and detailing where each was spent. Like for example, if I went on a clothing shopping spree for only myself, the judge might not grant that.

But that all went for naught as he went after my very healthy 401K, and per Federal Law was entitled to half of it. He didn't have a 401K to trade, so I took the marital debt to save my 401K. I think he truly enjoyed that.

I can't comment about the law in Maryland, RMan, but in California any debt run up during marriage and before separation is community with very limited exceptions. Each party is responsible for one-half. Exceptions could include debt run up for a separate property purpose (like to pay expenses for a separate property asset or for a girlfriend/boyfriend).

Lynne

The way I understand it is if you incurr any debt durring the marriage it is split 50/50. You both benifit from it. With me the x and I have a car loan. She blew the engine and wont pay for it. My lawyer was bad. I got stuck with car no working engine and owe $5000. The thing is I am in no hurry to pay for it. The divorce papers say i pay. the loan people dont care they can still come after her.

My H had a huge balance on his credit card that I was not aware of but, it was accumulated during the marriage so...I get to take on half - Lucky me. Talk to your lawyer, pretty sure your wife doesn't get off as easy as she'd like to! - sale of the house division should be decided that outstanding debts are paid before any of the earnings are divided...dunno if thats standard but thats how we have our agreement set up - good luck.

Well, if she is just an "authorized user" I do not believe that she is responsible for the money, however..her credit will be screwed if you decide to not pay the debt.

I was an authorized user and i got all of it off my credit report and the companies stated i wasnt responsible for the money owed.

If her name is on the account as co signer, that is a different story.

I would have to agree with the other in that the "fair" thing and probable thing IF you both worked and brought in around the same amount of money then the debt should be split 50/50. BUT If she did not work for the majority of the marriage then I can see there might be a problem.

Just for FYI sake: My H and I are not Divorced yet but we do already have an agreement in place where we had agreed to split all of our debts in half or are already agreed to be paid so as to ensure that niether party will be in financial debt over the other. Okay well except for the house but that is extenuating circumstances (I never wanted the house in the first place). Anyway thats a story for another time, but I wanted to let it be known that some are trying to be as fair about this as possible.