Dear Quentin,
My husband bought a house in another state without my permission and moved with his brother. I am not mentioned on the mortgage documents for this new home. He opened his own bank account without my name on it, and opened credit cards, again without my name on it. He left me alone in another state. What is my responsibility if he defaults on his loans?
Abandoned
Dear links,
That’s a tough break. I assume it didn’t come as a complete surprise, at least I hope you were warned in some sense that he was going to be – as we say in Ireland – a ‘runner’. Some people bombard their spouses with love to give them what they think they want; others leave because they don’t like confrontation and can’t handle a one-on-one conversation with adults.
The first thing you need to do here and now is freeze your credit. It ensures that your husband cannot take out loans in your name. It doesn’t seem to be his modus operandi, but it’s better to lock the door today than leave the door ajar – and regret it later. Secondly, it may be wise to withdraw 50% of the money from joint bank accounts.
The third thing you should do is contact a lawyer and start legal proceedings for a legal separation. Isaac Newton’s first law of motion states that an object or body remains at rest, or moves at a constant speed in a straight line, unless acted upon by a force. In other words: you have to take action. If you don’t, life goes on, but you remain stuck.
Debt incurred solely by one spouse – if the other spouse is not listed on the credit card or mortgage documents – is generally that spouse’s responsibility. Without a prenuptial agreement, there are exceptions if the couple in question lives in a community of property state (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin).
“In a community property state, most assets and debts acquired or accrued by both spouses during the marriage are considered community property,” according to The Law Office of Ryan Besinque, a New York-based practice. “This means that both spouses have equal ownership and responsibility for these assets and liabilities, regardless of who acquired them.”
“When a couple going through a divorce in community of property, the general practice is to divide assets equally between the spouses, although there are exceptions to this rule,” he wrote. “When one spouse dies, the portion of community property owned by the deceased spouse generally passes to the surviving spouse, unless there is a valid will that provides otherwise.”
I don’t want to worry you. From what you say, it seems unlikely that you will be held responsible. (But there are always exceptions.) If you live in equitable distribution, your assets will be divided fairly—and not necessarily equally—in the event of a divorce. You’re not the first spouse to be left with peace of mind, but the sooner you get the legal wheels turning, the better.
Good luck as you navigate this chapter of your life and start a new one.
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