Ex's bankrupcy coming back to haunt me...

I was divorced almost 2 years ago. At this time most of the debt's were awarded to my ex-husband. Last year he filed bankrupcy and the debt was discharged - for him. Now their after me.

I'm a stay at home mom who does day care to make ends meet (ex left me with two very small boys). There's NO posibility of paying off the old debt (around $26000). I do not want to declare bankrupcy myself.

I have written to the creditors that have contacted me and told them that there was no way I would be able to pay on the old debt.

Today I received a summons for court over one of the larger bank debts. I do not have a lawyer and hiring one would be impossible in my present financial position.

What I need to know is what will happen if I go to court myself and explain to the Judge the situation (that the debt was awared to my ex who subsuqently reniged). That I have no money over what I need to make ends meet for myself and my sons?

Am I fighting a losing battle? Will I have to declare bankrupcy myself to discharge these old debts; and if so, how the heck do I afford a lawyer??

I live in Kansas City, Kansas.

Thanks

I am real sorry to hear of the situation you are in. Unfortunately it is one that happens all to often -- a spouse ignoring their obligations in a divorce so the other spouse gets hit by the creditors.

Let me explain first that the ex can still be ordered by the court where you got the divorce to pay these creditors. If he does not he can be held in contempt of court. He can discharge the obligation to the creditors but not to you.

Having said that, you have one creditor breathing down your neck. If you do not file an answer to the complaint you just got, you are going to have a default judgment against you. Once you file that answer, going to court and explaining the situation is likely not going to protect you.

Here is what you need to do in the morning. First call a local divorce lawyer where you got the divorce - that initial call is going to cost you nothing. See what they suggest both as to how to proceed and how to pay.

Also know that there are cases where you could qualify for legal assistance or the help of a law school clinic. If you can not get info on that by calling the state bar association, whose phone number should be in yellow pages with lawyers, let me know & we can try to get you info.

But know that because you have been sued you need to file an answer and should be talking to a local lawyer.


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Law on, Kevin

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Kevin O'Keefe
Founder & Fearless Community Leader
[url="http://www.prairielaw.com"]Prairielaw.com[/url]
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Sounds familiar since we just came from a lawyer yesterday for the same thing. here is what our attorney told us to do. since they were court ordered to pay these debts, they are in contempt for not paying them and we were told to file a motion for contempt. You will need a lawyer to do this and like the previous man told you , you do need to file an answer to the other complaint. we did the same thing and that judge will probably tell you, you are responsible for the debt, that is why you need to jerk the ex into common pleas court for the contempt charge. we are having the same problem with our ex. she was suppose to pay the kids unpaid medical bills and is filing bankruptcy on them so the creditors are coming after us for them. This is what our attorney told us to file. Read your divorce papers and see if it says failure to do this is contempt of court. and then go after him. you can find legal aide services which is based on income. also some attorneys will sue your ex to try and get the legal fees from him. check around . best of luck to you.