Want to sue ex for joint debts i paid off

podperson

I don't want to sound negative but please be careful going down the courts route for something like this. You couldn't use the small claims as the amount is too high, you would have to pay court costs as well as his costs if you lost - which can be quite expensive.
Also joint debts are very difficult to sucessfully claim on - can you prove that all the money was spent by/on him and that you received no advantage from them - ie joint items for the house, joint holidays you would have received some benefit from. You would also need to prove that you paid the full amount and he didn't contribute and if he gets a decent solicitor then I would be surprised if they didn't raise the question of why it wasn't covered in the divorce proceedings.
Then if you do manage to win the case - are you feasibly going to get the money back from him if he says he has no money. You could be spending a fortune on court costs in order to get back £10 a month for xx amount of years.

Is there no chance you could work something out between you, for example he signs over any future profits from equity in the house to you. I would also be careful in relation to that as if the house is in joint names then he would currently have a claim to that and even if he is saying that he won't claim at the moment then he might decide to be nasty about it if you're taking him to court for money.

I'm sorry this sounds really negative, I appreciate how frustrating it must be for you for him to have made no contribution while you have had to pay out all this money - but just make sure you take some advice to make sure you don't end up paying out a load more money for nothing x

NAR

Moneyangel, firstly you will have burden of proof that he was responsible for the debts. You did not raise these debts at financial consent order time - that will be questioned in court.
This could end up a costly battle where only the solicitors are the winners - are you willing to risk that?

Tish_P

I think the concensus here is it's unlikely to be worth the time, stress and risk.

If the debts were in both your names, you agreed to taking on the debts at the time, and you paid them off before you divorced, then he probably doesn't have a legal duty to pay you back, however much of a moral duty you may think he has. You're probably better off concentrating on the future and particularly in ensuring that the rental income and equity from the house is shared out fairly. Sorry, but sometimes life sucks.

If you know a lawyer you can *trust*, it might be worth asking them, but I reckon there is a strong possibility that they would say the same thing we have, in longer words, for £200.

kelloggs36

I hope you didn't pay off debts which were soley in HIS name?

Plans_all_plans

Has anything been agreed LEGALLY about the house? If not, then you need to take advice on this ASAP, because when you do eventually come to sell, he could well have a claim to 50% of it, even though you've paid for everything to do with it.

moneyangel22

Some of the debts I paid were in my name, some in his name and some joint.
Mostly the money was used to fund his expensive taste in cars, and guitars. Yes I agreed to the finance but so did he and he has got away with not repaying it!

kelloggs36

If you don't pay it, the creditors will come after both of you as you are both liable. Don't pay any debts in his sole name, but you are equally liable for joint debts.

moneyangel22

Thanks. But I have already paid them all off. My question was how do I sue him for half of these paid debts.

fawd1

I wouldn't bother trying to sue him, just see if he will agree to X amount (whatever would have been his share of the debt) being handed over to you over and above your percentage of the equity in the house, if and when it's sold. The reality is, you could probably fight your corner eg joint debts in a court, but realistically, in regards to debts in his name alone, they were his, if you chose to pay them without any assurances as to how they would be repaid, then surely that's your own fault (not having a go, I would have done the same). Might be better as he's pleading poverty to try and get him to agree to hand over some of the houses equity?

FATBALLZ

You have zero chance of successfully suing him for any joint debts, and almost zero chance of successfully suing him for cards in his name that you paid off, unless you can prove he agreed that the money you used to do this was a loan he agreed to pay back to you. You need to forget this and move on.