English
EspañolA is being investigated for fraud. Am I responsible for marital debts? (already divorced)
AMEND AS NEEDED - THIS WAS A SITUATION WHERE THEY WERE ALREADY DIVORCED
Although I cannot speak to your situation, in most states, any debts acquired during the marriage are considered marital debt (even if they are only in one spouse’s name). In some divorce decrees, there is some sort of provision about marital debt, which may indicate, for example, that all marital debt was divided and that any remaining debt that wasn’t divided is attributed to the individual person who incurred the debt. However, if a third party creditor wants to sue spouses for a debt incurred during the marriage, a third party generally wouldn’t be affected by any sort of agreement between spouses - in other words, a third party may still sue spouses for a joint debt but perhaps one spouse can sue the other spouse to try to recover any money taken by the third party from the spouse who did not incur the debt.
Also, if there is some sort of criminal activity or fraud that caused the debt, perhaps this may help to contribute to the “innocent” spouse’s defense as to why s/he is not responsible for the debt. Some states may even have specific laws that say that the communal property (assets) is not responsible for the criminal acts of one of the parties. My hope is that you can speak to an attorney in STATE who specializes in divorce to get some advice about your specific situation. Here is a link for lawyers, some of which may be free or low-cost if you qualify:LINK
ADD IF RELEVANT IF SHE SAYS SHE IS SPEAKING TO PPLICE OR COOPERATING IN INVESTIGATION: Lastly, although you didn’t mention this as an issue, in many situations where one spouse is cooperating with the authorities to investigate another spouse, s/he will first negotiate some sort of immunity agreement for his/her cooperation. Therefore, if during the investigation, the authorities uncover any information that leads them to believe that the “innocent” spouse had any part in the criminal activity, the immunity agreement could cover that person so that s/he is not in danger of being charged criminally. I don’t know if this is relevant in your situation or if this is something that was already considered but perhaps if it’s a concern of yours, you can get a lawyer’s advice on this as well.
