Divorce and debt

[Houston68]

What is the name of your state?Texas
My friend (male)and his ex-wife divorced after 2 years of marriage.She took all her stuff and the child while he was at work and filed for divorce.They did not have problems in marriage as far as I know and he was shocked.He was first shocked when he entered his empty apartment, about kidnapped child, not knowning anything about what was going on and then being served divorce papers. In divorce papers she put that grounds for divorce were discord and his cruelty, that was bull****.

She requested him to appear in the Court eith days after filling petition (that was kinda hasty since the period is usually 2-3 weeks).She requested in Petition, that her ex-husband was obligated on a debt secured by a lien on property(the car mentioned above, they both bought).The Most importnant parts of TROs were the following..She (his ex-wife)requested the Court to issue a a bond, that he ex-husband will be restrained immediately from making withdrawals from checking/savings accounts from the bank(s), from any retirement, or other benefit plans, including withholding federal income taxes etc.. It also read that he was not allowed to contact her about his child before the day of appearing in the Court, eight days afte she filed for divorce.She requested that the payments for the support of the child survive the death of her ex and become the obligation of his estate and immediately to order him to pay for child support and to support her too.It also read that she should be awarded a disproportionate share of the parties' estate. She kept her truck and the house(in El Campo..she lives in Houston, as mentioned above).She also requested him to pay for her expenses(that she caused).

As he told me, she used her credit cards a lot during the marriage and also before she got maried.She made in her credit cards about 6,000 dollars in debts. Before she got married she had 10,000 in credit card debt.

She leased a brand new truck, bought in 2001. Few months after they got married, they both bought(started leasing) a car, that is, they both signed the document.She had a good credit history so she bought it and he co-signed it.Also,they refinanced her house in 2003 (she bought it in 1999) but now both of them signed. The House is in El Campo,TX, and she lives in an apartment in Houston,TX.

Her ex-husband, after he was served divorce papers, he decided to leave the country. He took all his money from the bank despite TROs, and also money from his retirement plan , and he contacted the Court from abroad that he changed his address and that he is willing to take care of his child. As far as I know, since then he has not paid any cent to her. The Court held 3 meetings in 2004, on the first in April, he did not appear. After he contacted them about the change of address they set two other meetings in the Court few months later, but he did not appear either.

She is probably stuck in the mud with all the bills, baby's expenses, truck, house, her credit cards. What will happen with the whole situation, with the house, the truck, the car, her retirement plan? Will they got repossessed? Will she file for bankruptcy? What about her/his credit history? What will they do with him? How much it will be all divorce expenses since she wanted the best lawyer in the county and contested divorce? Truck was leased from late 2001, and the car from early 2003.

[Ladynred]

I'm sorry, I'm totally confused here. Who's married and/or divorced from whom ?? Who's ex is doing what ?? What does your friend have to do with this, which party is he ??

Two words about property and debts in TX - COMMUNITY PROPERTY. If it was acquired during the marriage, they are BOTH equally liable for the debt whether the account is in one name or both.

You don't pay creditors, they have a nasty habit of repossessing secured property and suing on unsecured debts.

[Houston68]

You are confused about what? My friend (male) lived with his wife for 2 years and then she divorced him.The whole story above is about HIM and HER(his ex-wife).She wanted to take through the Court all his property during the mariage. She found the best lawyer in the county (Harris county) and wanted him to pay for most of divorce expenses.That was written in divorce papers. She is in Texas now, and he is out of the country.You may want to read the whole story again in order to understand it better.

[Ladynred]

Well, it was the way you referred to the parties involved that I found confusing.

My friend (male)and his ex-wife divorced after 2 years of marriage.

That part I got.

She requested in Petition, that her ex-husband was obligated on a debt secured by a lien on property(the car mentioned above, they both bought).

This is where it got confusing. Since its rare anymore more for people to only be married once, this sounds like 'her ex-husband' was an EX from a PRIOR marriage (not your friend). Why didn't you just refer to HIM ?? Besides, technically, until the divorce is/was finalized, they're not really EX's at all.

Ok.. First of all, nothing she requested in her petition for divorce is all that unusual - the support for the kid and her, the restraining order on the bank and retirement accounts, the child support payment surviving his death.. its all fairly standard. The request that he pay her attorney's fees and court costs is also fairly standard. That doesn't mean a judge would have AGREED with all of it. I don't think a family court judge can stop his employer from withholding payroll taxes. If he should die before his child reaches the age of majority, then its normal that his estate should continue to make the required child support payments.

As he told me, she used her credit cards a lot during the marriage and also before she got maried.She made in her credit cards about 6,000 dollars in debts. Before she got married she had 10,000 in credit card debt.

Her pre-marital debt is her own, generally. However, if she used those SAME accounts during the marriage, then it becomes part of the community property/debt, at least part of it. Once it becomes community debt, they are BOTH equally liable for that debt, regardless of whether or not HIS name was on the account. Same goes for anything other debts that were incurred DURING the marriage - like both the truck and the car and since she put his name on her house, that too became community property.

Her ex-husband, after he was served divorce papers, he decided to leave the country. He took all his money from the bank despite TROs, and also money from his retirement plan

Your friend skipped out on the divorce, but that doesn't stop it, all it does is guarantee that she gets everything she asked for !! You say he's willing to pay for his child but you say he isn't doing that, so now he's a DEADBEAT DAD on top of everything else. Was the restraining order IN PLACE when he drained the accounts ?? If so, then he has violated a court order and is in contempt of court. Oh yeah.. your friend's a real saint alright

She is probably stuck in the mud with all the bills, baby's expenses, truck, house, her credit cards. What will happen with the whole situation, with the house, the truck, the car, her retirement plan? Will they got repossessed? Will she file for bankruptcy? What about her/his credit history? What will they do with him? How much it will be all divorce expenses since she wanted the best lawyer in the county and contested divorce?

Will she file bankruptcy ?? Lets see.. let me find my crystal ball... maybe the sprits can tell the future.. but no one here can ! She definitely has that option.

Like I said in my first post - COMMUNITY PROPERTY is the key. BOTH are equally liable for debts incurred during the marriage. HER retirement plan ? If she is filing for bankruptcy, retirement plans are EXEMPT. If she doesn't pay for the vehicles they WILL be repo'd and if she fails to pay for the house, it will be foreclosed on. If she files for bankruptcy and the El Campo house is not her primary residence, she cannot claim the homestead exemption and the Trustee is going to want to take it and sell it to pay her creditors. If she files for bankruptcy SHE will be relieved of all the debts and the creditors will be looking for HIM to pay up ! They can sue HIM and get judgments for those debts too, and judgments in TX last basically forever.

In a community property state, debts of each spouse can and do appear on each other's credit reports, so if hers is trashed by community debts, his will be too.

As for the divorce expenses, there's also no way for anyone here to predict that. If she wanted the best lawyer in Harris County, then she's going to rack up significant attorney's fees. If the court orders that HE should pay her court costs and lawyer fees, then he will be liable.

By skipping out of the country, your friend has almost guaranteed that SHE will win everything she asked for in the divorce petition. If she files for bankruptcy, your friend will be left with all the creditors after his carcass and could have judgments against him. Since he's not paying his child support, that will pile up to a HUGE debt. Guess what - running away was NOT the answer !!

[JETX]

Who the hell are you in all of this??
What is YOUR standing, if any??

[JETX]

Originally Posted by Houston68

Who are you asking that ..asking me or "ladynred"?

Why would I be asking those questions of Ladynred??