Ex husband wants me to pay off half his debt

HappyMJ

startingout2016 wrote: »

I have read a lot of misleading information.

Certain websites providing advise regarding debts post separation state that debt in his name will not be my responsibility, however other websites state that even if I didnt know about his debts I am liable to pay half.

That's partly true. Debts incurred after you were married and before you were separated to buy jointly owned items you may be responsible to pay towards from any equity released from the house sale (and also from his own assets such as pension). If he can prove it was a joint purchase that is and not something he bought for himself. That's going to be quite hard for him to prove if you thought income was being used to buy the joint items and it was actually debt.

startingout2016

I am in England.

I had a personal credit card myself, and once separated my parents helped me by clearing it for me.

I would have had no expectation to request my ex to pay half towards it, despite it being used for joint things.

wyatte

Don't pay him ,his debt is no business with you ,you don't owe him anything .

Or ask lawyers for details .

Mummyto4kids

I've been through this experience and if he is racking up debt now and you haven't started proceedings you can in some cases still be liable to pay it. You need to file for divorce, file the Form E which deals with matrimonial finances and get a court order in place to divide your finances. As it stands you could sell your house, bank the money and he could withdraw it all the following day and you cant do anything because legally you're both still married and have joint finances.


you need a solicitor here to help you, its not as simple as debt being just in his name - I have been in this situation and it took me 5 years to recover from it after my ex ran up secret debt

qsk

Another vote for legal advice. The debts might not be your liability as far as the credit card issuer is concerned, but they will be in the family court, if they prove to be incurred during the marriage.

andyfromotley

Phew heres a lot of people giving you duff info on here! Thats the trouble with asking for advice on interenet forums, most people have no idea what theyre on about!

Debts incurred whilst you are married will form part of the settlement, irrespective of whose name they are in. This is usually done by adjustment of lump sum after the sale of the house. (as is being suggested in your case). Legally the responsibilty for paying those loans will always lie with the person whose name they are in. This will not change, but they will be compensated for this obligation by the money split as agreed above.

Now you are claiming that he had these debts in secret, he is claiming that they werent. You are going to have to reach agreement on this or end up in court and let a judge decide. (Judges get notoriously grumpy at sorting details like this out in divorces!!)

It would be exceptional for you to be held partly liable for expenses incurred after seperation.

The very best way for you to resolve this is to see a solicitor and folow their advice. As you are finding internet forums are in general terrible places for legal advice on important matters, however you could always try leagle beagles for a (slightly) better informed view.

Jojo_fry

Get divorced. Now. You need to be legally free of this man. Cite unreasonable behaviour and give specific examples, especially if it's of a financial nature as this now comes under the umbrella of domestic abuse.

Demand to see credit card statements with so-called 'joint' spending highlighted. He will have to do this as part of divorce proceedings anyway, as 'Form E' (the financial disclosure) requires you both to provide 12 months bank and credit card statements. My guess is that he will try to refuse because it would show that this spending is nothing to do with you. You are totally within your rights to refuse to give him a single penny.

HappyMJ

andyfromotley wrote: »

Phew heres a lot of people giving you duff info on here! Thats the trouble with asking for advice on interenet forums, most people have no idea what theyre on about!

Debts incurred whilst you are married will form part of the settlement, irrespective of whose name they are in. This is usually done by adjustment of lump sum after the sale of the house. (as is being suggested in your case). Legally the responsibilty for paying those loans will always lie with the person whose name they are in. This will not change, but they will be compensated for this obligation by the money split as agreed above.

Now you are claiming that he had these debts in secret, he is claiming that they werent. You are going to have to reach agreement on this or end up in court and let a judge decide. (Judges get notoriously grumpy at sorting details like this out in divorces!!)

It would be exceptional for you to be held partly liable for expenses incurred after seperation.

The very best way for you to resolve this is to see a solicitor and folow their advice. As you are finding internet forums are in general terrible places for legal advice on important matters, however you could always try leagle beagles for a (slightly) better informed view.

I think the point some of us are trying to make is that the debts "may" instead of "will" form part of any settlement.

If he's racked up tens of thousands of pounds of debts and gambled the money away then it could be argued that the debt wasn't incurred for the benefit of the family and "can" be excluded from any settlement.

eskbanker

startingout2016 wrote: »

I am in England.

I had a personal credit card myself, and once separated my parents helped me by clearing it for me.

I would have had no expectation to request my ex to pay half towards it, despite it being used for joint things.

Well that's some good news then, because when the time comes to tally up all the marital finances for splitting then he should be held at least as responsible for debts in your name (incurred while together) as you are for his.

shiny76

startingout2016 wrote: »

We were married for 3 years.
Divorce proceedings haven't been started yet due to me waiting to have the funds from the house sale to allow me to afford to submit the first set of forms to the courts.

Financial aspects aside...

Can you afford not to? Isn't he still your next of kin, in the case you become incapacitated?