Q: Please see the below for details
Hello,
there were recently loans taken out with me as a co-signer listed. My signature was forged by my husband. I do not want to press charges, but is there any legal action I can take against this company since i was never contacted? My credit is now bad because my husband defaulted on payments. Should I and/or my husband be declaring bankruptcy to offset the rest of our monthly overhead? Should I be filing for divorce to protect my children financially? My husband also missed a few years of paying taxes as well. Any advice you have would be much appreciated. Thank you
A: You should contact a bankruptcy lawyer to see what options you have available. You should definitely file a police report if someone stole your identity and took loans out fraudulently
A:
Yours is a very complex situation. Bankruptcy may be your best option but you mentioned taxes as well. If you filed married filing separately during those years, then you should be fine with declaring bankruptcy from a tax perspective. If you did not file then I urge you to do so immediately and file married filing separately unless filing jointly would get you a refund (which sounds unlikely) and if you can be sure the jointly filed return is accurate. If the tax years he missed were before you were married, he should contact a tax attorney and work to get this straightened out. If he does not set up some type of collection alternative, even if you were not married, the IRS could levy a joint bank account or place a lien against your home, among other things.
If you did file jointly and you both owe taxes then there are other considerations that need to be addressed. Has it been three years since you filed? If not, you cannot discharge the debt. Do you own a home and there is a tax lien attached? If so, then the lien will stay with the property and may end up causing you problems in the future. If you have a joint tax debt I recommend calling a tax attorney first. Just stay away from the places you see advertised on TV. Most of us offer a free consultation. In the future think about filing married filing separately to protect yourself.
As far as divorce is concerned that is a very personal decision. I would suggest that you speak with a family law attorney. Even if you do not proceed with divorce they may be able to give you other ways to protect yourself.
At the very least I would freeze your credit so that you are notified if someone tries to take out a loan in your name.
Good luck. Feel free to ask for clarification on any of the above.
A: You cannot claim a bank fraud and not press charges. Either file a forgery/bank fraud complaint with the police, or be responsible for the loan. Your choice. If you are not willing to press charges and assert the crime in an affidavit to the bank, you will be responsible. Whether you should file for bankruptcy or divorce is up to you. As to the taxes, if the income was all his, there is something called an non-responsible spouse, which is a filing you can make if they file a tax lien against you.
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