Full question:
My wife and I married in 2003. I am a foriegn national and had a binding contract to work with my government. As such, have to return to my home country to work for 2 years. During that time, I have made made monetary contributions to my wife by sending her international bank drafts or letting her use my credit card. I also visited her every six months using my vacations. We decided that it would be better for our marriage if I ended my contract and come to the USA. So we filed for immigration paperworks and came to the USA. However, my wife served me the divorce papers a year after we were back togehter in the U.S Because during that time, I got sick and had to have surgery due to a painful disease called multiple schwannomas and that stressed my wife out and which causes her to want to end our marriage. I am still recovering from surgery after 4 months but am back in the workforce now. What recourse do I have during my divorce proceedings? My wife has warned me that I do not deserve a single cent after our divorce. Under Arizona law, if I file for the motion to divide our community property and debts; 1) The house we live in belongs to her before our marriage and is still under her name. Is this considered community property and am i entitled to half the equity accumulated in the house over the 4 years duration of our marriage? 2) She incurred student loans to go back to school during our marriage. Is that considered community debt too?
- Category: Divorce
- Subcategory: Modification
- Date:
- State: Arizona
Answer:
I am not able to give a legal opinion. Generally, a spouse is not liable for the debts of the other as long as it is an individual account, the spouse running up the debt is not an authorized user, surety, guarantor, or cosignor, and the couple does not live in a community property state. However, even in a community property state the assets of the spouse not running up the debt could be at risk. For example, in cases involving, among others, bankruptcy, divorce, or other litigation, creditors may go after assets held jointly by the debtor and non-debtor spouse, such as a bank account in both their names. If your spouse agrees to pay off a joint credit card debt but does not, the bank may successfully sue you for that debt. However, state laws vary about which marriage partner is responsible for certain debts, depending upon when the debt was incurred, the identity of the debtor, or the purpose of the debt.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
