Held Blameless in Divorce Decree

What is the name of your state? OH

I've got a divorce decree stating that my ex-husband is responsible for the full balance of the joint credit card, he pays all fees if he defaults, and I am to be held "blameless", etc for this. He's not paying it and now I'm getting collection calls. They say they don't honor divorce decrees. (Yet a court is supposed to...)

Because he hasn't made payments in the 8 months he's been responsible for this, the balance is about $7100. I am sure he'll never pay it. My credit has already taken the hit and will for the next 7 years- so I can't do anything about that now.

If they were to take me/us to court, would my divorce decree actually protect me or would they make me pay anyways? What could they do to me?

Thanks...
MovdOn

[bigun]

A divorce decree is not binding on creditors. They can sue you if they want to.
Here's a suggestion. See if you can get the debt back with the orginal creditor and enter into payment arrangements and then, sue you ex husband for breach of contract.

Thanks for the reply.

The decree states that he'd have to pay the costs of taking him back to court. However, I'm sure I'd have to front the money first, right? Left to his own accord, he wouldn't pay the fees. How do the courts/attorneys handle that, or am I out of luck all the way around?

In regards to me making the payment...

Can they actually make me pay? I mean, can they get the court to hold ME in contempt of court? If they can't do much more to me than what they've already done, what would be the point for paying?

[bigun]

In Ohio, they can garnish your wages, levy a bank account and may be able to place a lein on your home if you own one.
This happens far to often. You'd think divorce lawyers would warn clients that these joint accounts can be time bombs.
You can sue him yourself in small claims court {though, the limit in Ohio is $3K]. You can also represent yourself if you like in a higer court and just pay the filing fee.
Sorry, but if the cc company wants to come after you they have every right to do so.

I agree, they should warn people. I want to pull out my hair with this, because even if I take him back to court, he has no money, no house, no car in his name, and won't work- what can they take from him? ARG!

Thanks again for the advice, Bigun.

Just some info for anyone else that may go through this:

I talked to an attorney and he also gave me a bit of info my original attorney didn't tell me...

He said that if my ex-husband were to file bankruptcy (which he talked about doing during the divorce proceedings), I couldn't hold him in contempt anymore and would be out of luck.

He too suggested paying off the debt, however, to negotiate down with the collection agency for an even lower settlement amount, which I did. And get it in writing first before sending a check!! Then I could pay off the balance and if I wanted, sue him for contempt later.

In my case, it's better to cut my losses because continual trips to the court house would be a waste of my time and money.