Q: Can my ex-husband come after me if I file bankruptcy & he's responsible for credit cards I agreed to pay in the decree?
I am considering filing for bankruptcy. My business has failed, and my debt is just insurmountable. I am recently divorced, and two of the credit cards that will be part of the bankruptcy were listed in the divorce decree as my responsibility to pay. My ex-husband is still the primary on those cards, so once my bankruptcy goes through, those cards will fall to him to be paid. Since the divorce decree is a legal document that states I agreed to be responsible for those two debts, can he come after me or sue me for not following through? His new wife is a judge, so I'm a bit concerned what legal strategies they might use.
A:
The bankruptcy law says that obligations arising out of a divorce decree are not dischargeable. In the is case, you may discharge the debts you personally owe to the individual credit cards, but your ex remains liable and you remain liable to your ex to hold him harmless - by reimbursing him for what he has to pay because of your defaulting on the divorce decree.
I suggest you let him know your situation, so that he has a chance to save his own credit from ruin if he decides to pay those debts. After that, he may or he may not go after you. Time will tell.
Maybe he won't because it won't be worth his time or trouble, or because he knows that you can't pay it anyway. Maybe he will leave it alone because you cared enough to let him know what is about to happen so that he can protect himself?
Showing good will towards an ex almost always pays off.
A: I suggest you meet with your family attorney to review the dissolution documents. If there is an indemnification clause in the agreement whereby if one of you has to pay the credit card debt assigned to the other spouse who is now not paying them, an indemnification agreement would allow the paying spouse to seek recovery of the money that was paid to the creditor from the non-paying spouse. However if there is no such clause, the only thing that has occurred is that you split up the debt. This is not a debt owed to a spouse or former spouse as stated in the bankruptcy code - so it should be dischargeable. With no indemnification agreement, what you have is only an agreement that you would pay some of the joint creditors and your spouse would pay some of the joint creditors. The creditors were not party to that agreement and is not bound by it - thus if either of you don't pay a particular debt, the creditor can look to the other spouse for payment. Meeting with the family attorney and then a bankruptcy attorney will clarify the issues for you.
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