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Community Debt?

My wife and I are separated and preparing to file for divorce. We both filled out Form FL-150 Income and Expense Declaration. Her form has approximately $30,000 of revolving and unsecured debt taken out during the marriage in her name only. I am being told that as California is a community property state and the debt was accrued during the marriage, even though my name was not on the accounts and even though I had no knowledge of the accounts, that the community is responsible for the entire amount therefore I am responsible for half of the debt.

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Attorney answers (3)

Reputation Level 14
Possibly. If you had absolutely no knowledge of the debt, and the community did not benefit from the use of the credit, you might be able to have wife take that as hers separately. Hwoever, if wife uses a credit card to fill your community car with gas, for example, or you both go out to dinner and she pays using that credit, then it is your debt as well. The only way to make hers separately would be to show that the credit was never used for the community. Seek an attorney's advice on this in your area, as it can be a rather complicated accounting issue. Good luck!

Reputation Level 9
As a general rule, you are correct. Debt incurred during marriage, regardless of whose name it is in, is considered community debt. There are exceptions to the rule, most commonly, when one party had no knowledge of the debt and the debt incurred was not used to benefit the community. This will require in-depth review and discovery of the financial documents related to the debt at issue. You would be well served to discuss your case with a family law attorney to explore particular issues in your case. Good Luck.

Reputation Level 9
Those gains during marriage are generally CP, and those losses (credit card debt) are generally losses. The question that always eventually comes up, is how much do you want to pay an attorney to fight about these debts. Sometimes the best manner to get out of a marriage is to realistically look as the benefit of fighting.

Some fights cost more than the original debt, and you may still be responsible for that debt at the end of the fight.

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