How are student loans decided in a divorce?
Question Details: My husband and I have taken out several loans to pay for our 3 children to attend college. Now we are getting divorced. All the loans are in my name as he has very poor credit. How would this debit be split legally? He agrees he is responsible for half.
Your children's student loans should be divided in equitable distribution just as any other debt would be, such as credit cards or car loans. Equitable distribution is the principle that divides assets and debts. This does not mean equal distribution but, instead, is determined by the court after considering a number of factors. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the length of the marriage, the contributions of both parties to the acquisition of assets and debts, the ability of the parents to earn once divorced, childcare responsibilities of either parent come, any other assets available to contribute to support, and any other factor that the court considers relevant.
Despite these issues, the equitable distribution of assets and debts in a divorce case are commonly equal because there rarely reasons to deviate. Some common reasons to deviate are unequal contribution to the acquisition of assets and debts, a grossly disproportionate ability to earn support once divorced and other reasons deemed equitable by the court. As such, this debt will either be equally divided between the 2 of you or proportionally divided between you 2 if your incomes are significantly different from one another.
If you want to speak with an experienced attorney who is familiar with these areas of law, call us at 973-562-0100. Our firm is concentrated in family law and estate planning case.
Good luck.
Brad M. Micklin, Esq.
The Micklin Law Group
187 Washington Ave., Suite 2F
Nutley, NJ 07110
973-562-0100
Brad@Micklinlawgroup.com
Under the laws of all states in this coutnry when there is a marital dissolution the assets and debts of the marriage are typically divided equlally between the spouses in terms of dollars and cents where a certain spouse may be required to pay the entirety of one particular debt and another the entirety of another.
The court usually does not require a 50/50 split of the payment of the marital debts since this could cause issues later on between the divorcing parties where one may pay his or her share in full and the other does not.
