Financial / Tax info

REMOVE OR CHANGE THIS PARAGRAPH DEPENDING ON THE SITUATION: I am not certain if you were looking for idea on how to protect yourself while still staying married to your husband or if you were thinking of separating from your husband (or even divorcing). So, I will try to address both scenarios.

In many states, while parties are still married, any debts that are incurred by either spouse during a marriage would be considered marital debts that either or both spouses could be responsible for if the parties divorce. During a divorce, a judge could “equitably” divide the debts between the spouses in a way that the judge considers to be fair. [IF SHE IS IN A COMMUNITY PROPERTY STATE, CHANGE THE PRIOR SENTENCE TO EXPLAIN HOW IT’S DIVIDED IN COMMUNITY PROPERTY STATES] Or sometimes, the parties will negotiate the issue through their lawyers and come up with a division of debts even before it gets to a judge. However, even a court order in which the judge declares which party is responsible for paying the debt would not necessarily affect a third-party collector’s right to go after either spouse. In other words, the court order affects the parties in the divorce but doesn’t affect a non-party who may want to collect the debt.

In some situations, especially if parties want to stay married and there is a lot of debt, the parties might consider signing a legal contract while still married in which they divide the debt and one spouse makes contractual obligations to the other spouse to pay off the debt and be responsible for it. However, if the contract is violated, enforcing it while still married may be difficult to do and I am not sure whether or not a court would intervene. However, perhaps a divorce judge may consider any agreement between the parties when dividing property or debts if the parties ultimately divorce. I cannot say what may or may not be possible under your state’s laws or in your specific situation. You may want to talk to a lawyer for advice. Here is a link for lawyers: LINK

Also, sometimes talking with a financial adviser may be useful to figure out how to secure one’s money from a spouse. Perhaps s/he could give ideas on a way to invest or save the money in an account that one’s spouse cannot access or may come up with other ways to secure one’s credit.

Lastly, we have a page that focuses on financial abuse and deals with issues such as when a partner is opening credit cards in the other person’s name without consent. I am not sure if this is relevant to your situation but here is the information just in case: http://www.womenslaw.org//laws_state_type.php?id=14107&state_code=PG&lan…