Am I still liabel for my husband's debts since I've filed for divorce six months ago?
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Questions and Answers regarding Property Division in Louisiana
Q: On what basis does the court decide how marital property is divided?
A. Louisiana is a community property state. A spouse's separate property, consisting of property acquired prior to the marriage and property acquired by gift or inheritance is awarded to that spouse. The community property is divided equally between the spouses. Personal property necessary for the safety and well-being of the spouse filing for divorce and any children in his or her custody (including food, eating utensils, clothing, and any other items necessary for their safety and well-being) will be awarded to the spouse filing.
Q: Is the separate property of one spouse subject to being divided up?
A: The question here is whether property belonging to one of the parties should be included in the marital estate for purposes of an equitable division. Generally, separate property acquired before the marriage or by gift or inheritance during the marriage may be excluded from the marital estate if neither the property nor its income has been used for the common benefit of the parties during their marriage.
Q: What if the parties occasionally use an item of separate property (for example, silver table utensils inherited by the wife) for the benefit of both parties?
A: The property may be subject to division. Where the parties regularly use property acquired by one party before marriage for the common benefit of the parties, it is more likely to be available for consideration in dividing property. The frequency of use may be considered by the court in making the decision.
Debt:
The liabilities and debts you and your spouse accumulated during the marriage should all be assigned, paid, or handled in some manner as part of your divorce settlement. The debts should include all credit cards, mortgages, car loans, home equity lines of credit, and other types of consumer loans. If you or your spouse is a small business owner, be sure to address any personal guarantees you signed for business loans, lines of credit, or to secure any account payable of the business.
From a creditor's viewpoint, a debt incurred by both spouses during the marriage or debts incurred on a joint credit card or line of credit during a separation -- and in some cases even after a divorce -- are the responsibility of both people. The creditor does not care how a divorce judgment assigns the debt. The creditor just wants the debt repaid by the people who promised to pay when the lender made the loan.
A common example of this situation is when spouses have joint credit cards during the marriage and one spouse uses the credit card during the separation. The spouse who didn't incur the debt should not be liable for paying it. However, the credit-card company could seek payment from both people if the credit-card charges were not paid.
It's also possible for a creditor to hold an authorized user or an unauthorized user, such as a person who signs the charge ticket, responsible for the repayment of a credit card or other debt. Another possible circumstance, although a very unlikely one, may enable the creditor to seek payment from an unauthorized user if the charges were to provide necessities of life.
As you can probably tell, the creditor is going to get its money from anyone who can possibly be held liable for the debt. That's one of the reasons why it's imperative for you to take steps before the separation and divorce to protect yourself from potential abuse of your credit. This is also the time to address repayment of all your current debt - including credit cards.
There are two methods of handling joint debts in your divorce: you can assign the debt to a responsible spouse for payment, or, employing the most effective method, repay the debt in full prior to the divorce. The effectiveness of an assignment situation can be increased if a creditor will release the spouse not responsible for payment from the debt. This release from the creditor is usually very difficult to obtain.