Am I responsible for debt incurred by a legally separated spouse?
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Am I responsible for debt incurred by a legally separated spouse?
I married my husband 10 years ago, however we separated 2 years later and we are not and have not been in contact since then. I received a letter in the mail from an investigator hired by an attorney to locate me stating that my husband was trying to file for bankruptcy but he was unable to do so without my signature due to the fact that we were never legally divorced. Am I responsible for his debt? Am I required to sign this paperwork? What are the ramifications of signing and also of not signing? Do I have to file for bankruptcy because he is?
Asked on August 23, 2011 Nevada
Answers:
J.V., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Good afternoon,
Thanks for posting to our site. To get right to your question I strongly urge you to hire an attorney. Your questions are complex and require additional information to be properly answered. One point is that you are not required to file for bankruptcy just because your husband is.
What I cannot answer is whether you are responsible for his debts. It depends on what state you were married in, whether the legal separation entitles you to a separation of assets. You most likely will need to sign the paperwork because it is a procedure required for a person linked during a bankruptcy but again do not sign without an attorney review.
It all depends on whether your joint on accounts, when they were opened, and in order to properly analyze you need to organize all your financials and sit down with an attorney to make sure your protected
Good luck
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